


A Different Brand Of War

by torturingtaylor (itzaimster)



Category: Hanson
Genre: Dystopia, Execution, Gen, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Post-War, Prison, Prisoner of War, Radio, Resistance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-02-07 22:48:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 31
Words: 72,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12851175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itzaimster/pseuds/torturingtaylor
Summary: 'A possible future'. When the US dramatically loses the arms race the midwest is plunged into organized chaos. Citizens struggle to navigate a new life under a new leader and everyone is questioning their future.





	1. Crazy Circles

_“So we find ourselves at an impasse. A crossroads, even. Do we fight for the greater good? Or do we submit for the sake of our skins? Because they’re not just our skins are they? They’re our families’ skins too.”_  
_“And of course our listeners don’t know this, but we do both have families of our own. We’re not doing this out of our parents’ basement or anything.”_  
_“Of course not.”_  
_“And family is definitely very important to us particularly in these hard times. Because they’re what’s going to get us through this. They’re what’s keeping us from going insane.”_

He smirked, adjusting his right earbud. Just enough so that he could still hear the gravel crunching under his boots as he walked.

_“I know my son has definitely pulled me back into line a few times already.”  
“My wife has too. It’s hard I guess when you get so used to living your life a certain way, you get used to the daily grind, and to have that thrust out from under you so suddenly – despite it being with warning – it’s going to upset the balance. There’s going to be tempers flying of course, there’s going to be family drama of the highest calibre. But I think as a nation we have a lot of grieving to do. It does already feel like forever since everything was ‘normal’, but grief takes time. And like losing a loved one as a collective we all need to take the time that we need as individuals to adjust and I don’t believe there’s anyone standing there with a clock saying ‘time’s up, back to work’.”_

He looked back over his shoulder when he heard the faint rumble of an engine. He prepared to duck off into the trees at the side of the road just in case.  
_“As great as this therapy session has been-“_  
_“Venting, it’s a vent session. I vote we do them every week.”_  
_“-um. Maybe. We’ll look into that. But we should probably play some music.”_  
_“That sounds like a great idea.”_  
_“So for anyone that feels like they’re stuck in their own little hamster wheel, just going around and around and waiting for the day it might be safe to finally jump off, I’ve found a little something by Bad Company for you. Here’s_ Crazy Circles.”

He sighed in relief when he recognized the truck. He stepped off to the side of the road as he felt the air brakes go, waiting patiently for it to roll to a halt.  
“Good evening Jordan!” came a call from the cab.  
“여보!” he returned.  
“I am learn much more English today,” the driver was proud, “maybe you test me?”  
“I’m sure I could help with that,” he couldn’t help but smile.  
“Get in now! Do not make wait!”  
He smirked and went to the back of the truck, lifting the canvas on a crew of five more men. They were all filthy from a day’s hard work. He greeted each of them as he passed before taking a seat closest to the cab where he could easily converse with the driver.  
_“Music takes you and you’re gone again… crazy circles never seem to end…”_  
“Did you have good day?” the driver asked him as the truck started to roll down the road again.  
“I did. It was very productive.”  
At the awkward silence that followed he quickly tried to think of how to reword it.  
“I got a lot of work done,” he amended.  
“I will have to see your work one day.”  
“You will. Your English is getting really good! You’re sounding more American every week.”  
A chuckle came from the cab and he settled in for the ride.

_“Life is like a carousel… you aim for heaven and you wind up in hell… to all the world you’re living like a king… but you’re just a puppet on a broken string…”_  
“고맙습니다!” he waved to the driver as he stepped out at the end of his street.  
The driver waved back as the truck continued on its way into the city. He waited until it was out of sight before starting down the road again.  
He nearly stubbed his toe on the front door when it got stuck and it reminded him once again that he’d been meaning to fix it. He’d just had a busy few days.  
“Hey,” the relief was evident on his wife’s face as she appeared.  
“Are the kids in bed?” was the first thing he asked as he set his satchel down and began to take off his boots.  
“The kids are, but Zac wants to talk to you.”  
He hesitated at that and instantly felt bad for it. His brother didn’t have many people to talk to these days, he could at least make the effort for him.  
“He’s listening to the radio in the kitchen. I’ll be in bed.”  
“Okay,” he watched her leave before continuing to remove his jacket and lanyard.  
He was about to suggest to his brother that he’d take a shower first, but once he caught sight of Zac’s body language he reconsidered the urgency. His younger brother was slumped over the table looking like he hadn’t slept in weeks, despite it being all that he had to do some days.  
“I’m not going to ask what’s wrong,” he said as he entered the room and put a hand on his shoulder, “so I’ll just start by saying you look terrible.”  
“Thanks Tay,” Zac smirked, already brightening a little at the sight of him.  
Taylor took a seat nearby and cast his eyes toward the radio sitting on the table.  
_“It’s hard I guess when you get so used to living your life a certain way, you get used to the routine, and to have that thrust out from under you so suddenly-”_  
Zac reached over to switch it off.  
“Did you eat tonight?” Taylor thought to ask first.  
Like all of them, Zac had lost a lot of weight. But he always seemed to look the most haggard.  
“A little,” Zac assured, “but Junia’s not doing so well, so…”  
“Does she need anything?” Taylor frowned, “is there anything we can do?”  
“I don’t think so,” Zac shook his head, “I think it’s just stress. Maybe diet.”  
“Sorry.”  
“You’re already doing more than enough,” Zac insisted, “although I’m not entirely sure that isn’t just stupidity, we’re still grateful for it.”  
“That was a 50/50 compliment and insult, right?” Taylor checked, unsure if he understood or if he were already overtired.  
“Yes, it was,” Zac smirked, “I know we used to talk about living life to the fullest and all that but I wasn’t really expecting you to not only risk life and limb on a daily basis but to outright put your head on the guillotine once a week.”  
“Zac you know why I do it,” Taylor leant forward.  
“I know. You can’t help it. It doesn’t mean we can’t worry,” Zac assured, “you do realize the stress it’s putting Nat under though, right?”  
“I have an idea,” Taylor looked over his shoulder to make sure she’d actually gone to bed like she’d said she was going to.  
“I don’t know that you do. For all of your ‘family first’ bullshit you’re taking a lot of liberty.”  
Taylor’s eyes met his brother’s and Zac had to look away. Zac’s eyes were stained red at this point and Taylor knew he probably hadn’t seen Kate in a few hours at least.  
“If you only had one way to fight back, wouldn’t you take it?” Taylor’s eyes narrowed accusingly.  
“You’re not fighting,” Zac scoffed, “you’re hiding.”  
“I guess I shouldn’t say ‘look who’s talking’ right?”  
Zac rolled his eyes.  
“You know what I mean,” he insisted, “you have the ability to actually do something. I don’t. Do you have any idea how hard it is to sit back and watch you do nothing?”  
“Nothing?” Taylor instantly scowled, “you think I’m doing nothing?!”  
“I’m too tired to argue,” Zac stood from his chair.  
“No you started this,” Taylor followed, “finish it. What do you think I’m doing out on the street every day? Nothing?”  
“That’s not what I meant.”  
“Then you need to be more articulate before coming for my throat next time,” Taylor insisted.  
“Sorry. Goodnight Tay.”  
Zac left the room, leaving Taylor rolling his eyes in frustration. He held back anything audible in favor of heading for the shower. He needed to cool himself off.

_“Crazy circles going round and round… one day you’re up and the next day you’re down… life is like a merry go round.”_  
“Is Zac okay? He wasn’t talking earlier,” Natalie looked up from her book when Taylor came into the room fresh from the shower.  
“Junia’s sick, I don’t know how bad,” he told her, shaking his hair out.  
“What can we do?” Natalie set the book aside.  
“I don’t know, I’m not sure we can do anything,” he admitted as he pulled the covers aside and got into bed.  
“I could maybe ask around for something for her,” Natalie suggested, “if it’s her stomach troubling her.”  
“I don’t know. You might have to ask Kate tomorrow.”  
He leant over to turn off his lamp before adjusting his pillow and settling in.  
“I will,” Natalie agreed.  
She waited a moment to check that he was actually closing his eyes before turning off her own lamp and following suit.  
“I think we’re running low on fuel for the generator,” she murmured, hoping he hadn’t fallen asleep in the last ten seconds.  
“I’ll look for some tomorrow. Write me a note.”  
“Okay.”  
She sighed, eyes open and staring as her husband drifted off to sleep. Her worry at him not coming home one of these nights was becoming all too common and it took her a little extra time to calm down each time that he came home late. Today was no different.  
Once she knew for sure that he was safely asleep she closed her own eyes.


	2. Back In Time

_“This might be our new normal, but this doesn’t have to last forever. We don’t know what’s going on out there in the real world right now. Or at least, we personally have no way of knowing any better.”  
“When something like this comes up it always makes me wish we had a way for our listeners to phone in, like the good old days.”  
“If anyone out there even still has a phone.”  
“There is that, but I wish we had some form of communication even if we went back to the golden age of being pen pals or something. Except obviously a lot more secretive like… I don’t know, leaving a note under the steps of the Chrysler building on the third night after the full moon.”  
“Here’s a note to whatever listeners we have – we are not in New York.”  
“We are not in New York, no. I was just using it as an example.”  
“I’d be very surprised if anyone could get away with hosting a radio show in New York these days.”  
“Last I heard, which was maybe three months back, the only reason anyone would go to New York is if you worked in construction. I don’t know if that’s changed and I don’t know what they wanted those workers for but if we have any listeners out there-“  
“Highly doubtful that we have that reach.”  
“-I bid you good luck in whatever projects you’ve got going on and I do pray on a regular basis that those projects are something that will further our country, wherever it’s going, and not hold it back.”  
“And on that depressing note…”  
“We don’t honestly mean to be depressing, and this whole concept was born of the idea to help people get through their day. But it’s kind of the world we live in right now, isn’t it?”  
“You’re saying you want to turn back time?”  
“…Don’t make me say that. I was not a DJ in a past life.”  
“I have no problem saying it. This is a song we found for anyone out there like us that wants to go back in time. It’s Huey Lewis and the News with_ Back In Time.”

_“Tell me doctor, where are we going this time? Is this the 50’s or 1999?”_  
“Are you okay?” Taylor’s eyes narrowed at Natalie as he dried dishes in the kitchen.  
“Fine,” she hadn’t realized the look on her face, “I’m just worried about Junia I think.”  
Taylor nodded, setting another plate on the counter.  
“I haven’t seen Zac or Kate yet this morning.”  
“I’m sure they’ll be up soon, it’s not long before the kids have to get to school,” he tried to reassure.  
They finished up with the dishes and Taylor enlisted Ezra’s help to set the table. Natalie managed to get the younger kids organized and it wasn’t long before Zac’s also began to appear. Between them they had a bowl of cereal in front of everyone by the time Zac and Kate emerged with Junia in tow.  
“Is she okay?” Natalie instantly went to Kate’s side as Zac followed his other three to the table.  
“She has a fever,” Kate was petting Junia’s head gently, “I just hope it isn’t an infection.”  
Natalie felt the girl’s head herself, wincing a little at how hot she felt.  
“I’ll ask around at the school and see if anyone has medicines left over,” Natalie promised, “do you think you could handle some breakfast?”  
Junia shrugged, which they knew also wasn’t a good sign.  
“Come and have a try,” Natalie took her by the shoulders, “then you can rest on the couch while the others go to school.”  
She made some room at the table for her as Kate joined Zac to grab their own breakfasts.   
“Sorry about last night,” Zac was in the middle of apologizing to Taylor, “I don’t know what came over me.”  
“Don’t mention it,” Taylor shrugged, playing with his food a little.  
“I don’t want to be taking this out on you is all.”  
“There’s not really anyone else to take it out on,” Taylor pointed out, “if you need to vent, do it. God knows leaving it pent up won’t do us any good. We’ll kill each other.”  
Zac smirked in agreement. They hadn’t the day before, but they’d certainly come close to fisticuffs in recent past already.   
“Are you seeing Ike today?” Zac changed the subject.  
“Only if I have time after work. He knows there’s only ever a fifty-fifty chance of it.”  
“Maybe he should come here for once so that we actually get a chance to see him.”  
“You know how he feels about that,” Taylor shook his head, “he’s worried he’ll put us in danger, and it’s not entirely unfounded.”  
“Don’t forget about the religious treaty tomorrow afternoon,” Kate reminded them both at a pause in conversation.  
“Wait that’s tomorrow?” Zac frowned.  
“I think we have everything together,” Taylor assured, “once we knew it was happening we went around the house and just grabbed everything in sight. Hopefully the kids haven’t hidden anything from us.”  
“If they come looking they’re going to find more than artefacts,” Zac looked worried.  
“Then we just have to make sure they have no reason to come looking,” Taylor shrugged.

_“All I wanted to do was play my guitar and sing…”_  
“It’s about that time!” Natalie announced, “I want everyone ready by the door in ten minutes! Last call for bathroom breaks!”  
“Don’t run!” Taylor called out when he saw Junia about to be bowled over by the boys.  
Kate led her to the couch where she lay her out with a wet towel on her forehead.  
“I’ll turn the generator off before I leave today,” Taylor told Natalie as he met her at the door, “we’ll save as much power as we can until I find some fuel for it.”  
“Good idea,” she agreed, “I’ll only use it if Junia needs anything. Any ideas of where you’ll find some?”  
“There’s that old car lot over near Ike’s place, I’ll try there first. They’re probably all syphoned already but it doesn’t hurt to try.”  
“Isaac might know somewhere else to find fuel too?” Natalie suggested.  
“Maybe,” Taylor looked back over his shoulder, “but if he does he’ll probably need it for himself.”  
He quickly counted heads.  
“Seven plus Junia and Lulu makes nine. You’re good to go,” he gave Natalie a quick kiss on the cheek.  
“Have a good day at work,” she insisted before opening the door.  
Taylor went down the line to say goodbye to each of the kids in turn before standing at the door to watch them head down the driveway and wave to anyone who looked back. He waited until they were well out of sight before closing the door and going to get his work things together.

_“Take me away, I don’t mind, but you’d better promise me I’ll be back in time…”_  
“One missing,” the stern-faced woman looked up from her desk.  
“Yes, Junia. She’s sick,” Natalie forced a smile, “but everyone else is here.”  
“One missing.”  
“I know. She’s not well,” Natalie reinforced, trying to think of how to simplify it further for someone who didn’t know the language very well, “she’s sick. Sick? She needs medicine.”  
“You bring Junia Hanson here.”  
“I can’t,” Natalie insisted, “it’s too far to walk. It took thirty minutes to get here. She can’t walk that far.”  
“She hurt?”  
“No, but-“  
“Then she walk. Junia Hanson come here.”  
“She can’t walk this far!” Natalie had tried not to raise her voice but was getting very frustrated.  
Thankfully a woman standing to the side quickly came to her aid.  
“What’s wrong with your daughter?” she asked tentatively.  
“She’s my niece, and I don’t know,” Natalie tried to calm herself down, “she has a fever and she’s barely eating anything. It came on yesterday and she was worse this morning.”  
The woman quickly translated for her. The expression on the face of the woman behind the desk didn’t change, and the tone she replied with wasn’t at all reassuring.  
“She says your niece can take two days of leave, so today and tomorrow, but if she goes into a third day they’ll send a doctor to the house,” the translator told Natalie.  
“Thank you,” she nodded, knowing that having a doctor at the house was the last thing they needed but that it might be inevitable.  
“She also said that payment for the doctor’s visit would come from your family rations. Or your niece’s family rations.”  
“I understand,” Natalie nodded again before turning back to the older woman, “thank you.”  
She bowed her head before hurriedly taking her leave. The translator followed her away.  
“Is your niece really sick?” she kept her voice down.  
“Yes,” Natalie looked confused as to why she’d lie about it, “why?”  
“I might know someone that can help.”  
She stopped walking and opened her handbag, pulling out a small notepad and pen. Natalie stopped with her out of pure curiosity.  
“This couple used to run a pharmacy downtown and they managed to save most of their stocks before the looters came,” the woman kept an eye out to make sure no one was in earshot.  
She wrote down an address.  
“If your niece definitely needs medicine, take her here after sundown. But only if she really needs it,” she insisted, “there’s a lot of sick kids out there and they have their hands full with diabetics and people with infections. Don’t take her if you think she might be contagious.”  
“Is it far?” Natalie took the note, but she wasn’t very sure of where it was.  
“Do you have a map?”  
“We do at home.”  
“It’s a little further south but maybe ten minutes’ walk from here?”  
“That’s closer to us than the school is,” Natalie breathed a sigh of relief, “thank you. Sorry I didn’t get your name?”  
“Cassie,” she smiled as she returned the book to her bag.  
“Natalie. Thanks so much for your help. I don’t know what I could offer you in return.”  
“Don’t worry,” Cassie waved it off, “we all need to look after each other.”

_“Don’t bet your future on one roll of the dice, better remember lightning never strikes twice…”_  
“We want some from just about every angle you can manage. We really want you to capture the scope of this thing.”  
“That shouldn’t be a problem, it’s a big place,” Taylor looked up at the building apprehensively, “how long did it take to get this far?”  
“Five months,” the worker wasn’t interested in small talk, “how long will it take you?”  
“I should only be maybe fifteen minutes, no more than thirty.”  
“Good. Report back to me when you’re done.”  
Taylor watched him walk away before setting his satchel onto a nearby table. He pulled out his Canon 5x Mark IIII and a few different lenses, but it was mostly for show. He knew this would be an easy shoot. He adjusted the camera settings and made sure the hardhat he’d been given was still on his head before stepping out into the work area and starting to shoot the building’s progress.  
Workers were scattered on many levels, their fluorescent clothing not quite as bright as it used to be. He tried for the most part not to get them in any of the photos, but occasionally they were impossible to avoid. Other times they just added to the depth by using their bodies for scale. When he was sure he had enough views of the outside he entered the building, careful to stay to the outer regions where the maintenance was all but done. Most of the drilling was happening toward the center but that wasn’t what he needed. He had to showcase some of the views from some of the levels.  
He climbed about six floors taking photos from most the windows he came across. Nothing came out especially majestic but he hadn’t been employed to be an artist in this case. He was just about to head downstairs again when he thought he heard someone humming a short distance away.  
He froze up, debating if he should go looking. He didn’t necessarily want to invite the danger but he knew that it took a certain kind of person to openly hum in this day and age. Quickly deciding, he cautiously headed to the nearest corner and took a peek.  
A workman was on his knees measuring out a wooden rod that he was about to cut. He appeared oblivious to the world around him. Taylor knew he should probably snap him out of it right away lest anyone else hear him, but if he’d been working on this project for five months already surely someone else had heard him by now.  
The man happened to glance up while Taylor was thinking it over, and after spotting his shadow quickly realized that Taylor was there. He jumped to his feet and backed off.  
“Hey! It’s okay!” Taylor tried to reassure him, “I’m not gonna tell anyone, I swear.”  
He held one hand up in surrender and crossed his heart with the other. The man looked him up and down as if trying to judge his honesty. Taylor had a quick look around to make sure he was really alone.  
“Do you get away with that often?” he raised a brow.  
“Who are you?” the man’s eyes narrowed.  
“I’m a photographer,” he held up his camera, “I was shooting the building for the paper when I heard you.”  
“I thought I was alone. No one ever comes to this floor.”  
“I’m sorry.”  
Taylor chewed on his lip for a second before looking around again.  
“I used to be a musician,” he admitted in a lower tone.  
The worker’s face twisted in confusion.  
“Why would you admit that?” he was verging on horrified.  
“Because now we have something in common. We both have ammunition against each other,” Taylor looked just as apprehensive, “and hopefully we’ll never use it.”  
“You’re insane.”  
“Desperate times,” Taylor shrugged, “are we good here?”  
“Sure. We’re good.”  
Taylor gave him a nod and turned to leave.  
“Wait. What’s your name?” the worker called after him.  
Taylor paused in his stride but didn’t reply.  
“Your voice sounds familiar is all. Maybe I used to listen to your stuff?”  
“Maybe,” Taylor smirked and kept walking.


	3. Can't Find My Way Home

_“Let’s talk about something we don’t often get to talk about anymore. Let’s talk about music.”  
“The conversation might be a little one-sided but we’re going to do the talking for you.”  
“If you’re maybe just joining us for the first time or you’ve only heard a couple of our shows, you might not know that we are both musicians.”  
“I don’t like saying that we used to be. I don’t think we could ever really stop. Even if we’re not practising anymore or at least not out in the open, I don’t think that anyone who may have dedicated their life and their passion to something like music can ever really let go of that. In a way it’s kind of like alcoholism, you know? You’ll forever be an alcoholic even if you stop drinking forever. I think personally I’ll always be a musician no matter what comes.”  
“Yeah, I can agree with that. Though I gotta say I miss my beer almost as much.”  
“We won’t go there.”  
“Not yet, not yet. But someday. I have unresolved issues there.”  
“And I’m not touching that one with a ten foot pole. But something we both agree on is of course music. It’s why we’re here and talking into the abyss when we could just as easily be at home with our families.”  
“Being home with our families would be a lot easier that’s for sure.”  
“A lot safer too. But instead of us falling into another endless spiral of ‘why are we doing this when we don’t even know if people are listening’ let’s talk shop.”  
“I do know at least a few people listening, so shout out to those who know who I am and that I’m doing this. But something I wonder on a near-daily basis is how many instruments have survived. I know it’s hard to hide something like a piano, obviously, but do people out there still have harmonicas? Is there a dusty tambourine sitting on top of a closet somewhere? A ukulele maybe?”  
“That depends how good people were at hiding things. I know I have my share of contraband, whether it be by accident or on purpose.”  
“Same here. We found heaps of things after the raids. It’s not really on us that they didn’t search properly, a lot of things weren’t actually hidden I mean we didn’t know they were coming.”  
“And actually on that note, a reminder to anyone listening that the religious treaty is taking place this week. I know we all hate the initial reasons behind it but I would personally encourage everyone to take part while you still can. I hate to say it but we are genuinely lucky that the governing body has given us this opportunity.”  
“We’re not playing by the old rules anymore that’s for sure, and I’d also encourage everyone to take part. It’s certainly not worth what comes after if you don’t.”  
“I know a lot of people are feeling lost or disheartened right now, so we have a song lined up which kind of embodies that feeling we all feel.”  
“We didn’t even really get to talk about music again.”  
“I think the tangent’s gone on long enough. So here’s Blind Faith with_ Can’t Find My Way Home.”

 _“Come down off your throne and leave your body alone, somebody must change…”_  
“Treaty’s tomorrow,” Zac reminded Taylor as he helped get the dishes clean after dinner.  
“I’ll do a last once-over of the house tonight before we go to bed,” he promised.  
He looked over to where Natalie and Kate appeared to be arguing.  
“Any idea what’s going on there?” he nodded.  
“No, and I’m not sure I want to know,” Zac saw what he meant.  
“I saw that Junia wasn’t eating anything tonight,” Taylor dried another plate, “maybe it’s about that.”  
“I don’t know what to do,” Zac leant back against the counter, “it’s not like we can just take her to a clinic, you know? We already don’t have anything left in the house. We can’t even work the generator long enough just to keep her cool.”  
“I’m sorry,” Taylor frowned, not having found any fuel for it that afternoon, “I’ll try again tomorrow. I only found two car yards and both had been drained completely.”  
“I know, I’m not blaming you or anything,” Zac assured, “I just wish I could help. It would cut the time it takes in half.”  
“We can’t risk it,” Taylor looked him in the eye.  
“Maybe we’ll have to, if Junia doesn’t get any better,” Zac looked across to their wives again, “I’m not going to stay here and watch her die when I could be out there finding a cure.”  
“We won’t let it come to that,” Taylor insisted, “we won’t.”  
“You can’t guarantee that Tay.”  
Taylor set another plate down before heaving a sigh.   
“What?” Zac looked him up and down.  
“I don’t know what to say,” Taylor admitted, “you’re right, I can’t guarantee it. But if this does take a darker turn you know we’re going to be the ones that have to deal with it, right?”  
Zac nodded, unable to vocally agree.   
“So what do we do?” Taylor wanted to prompt him to think for himself.  
“I don’t know,” Zac shrugged, defeated.  
“Well we have to know,” Taylor insisted, “so get thinking. If you wake up tomorrow and your daughter doesn’t, what are we going to do? Do we tell the kids? Do we hide it? Do we let them take her away?”  
“No,” Zac’s voice broke as he cut in, “they’re not taking her away. That will be over _my_ dead body.”  
“Then we need a plan.”  
Zac checked over his shoulder again to make sure their wives couldn’t hear them. Thankfully, none of the kids were in the room either.  
“Maybe the church,” he quickly rubbed at his eyes, willing them not to water more than they were.  
“We might not get near it,” Taylor warned, “if it hasn’t been destroyed already, there might be patrols…”  
“Then we time them and we make it work,” Zac insisted, “we’re not burying my daughter in the backyard.”  
“I’m going out.”  
Zac was startled as Natalie appeared, and immediately regretted saying the last part as loud as he had.  
“Out?” Taylor frowned, “it’s past curfew, why?”  
Natalie eyed Zac who was rubbing his eyes again. Kate was tending to Junia in the background while instructing Shepherd and Abraham to get ready for bed.  
“I was going to tell you earlier but I didn’t want you to worry,” she admitted.  
“I’m worrying now. Why do you want to go out?” Taylor threw the towel aside.  
“Zac could you…?” Natalie thumbed over her shoulder.  
Zac just nodded before going to join Kate. They waited until he was out of earshot again.  
“Why do you want to go out?” Taylor repeated, his voice turning stern.  
“I don’t want to, but I am going,” Natalie informed him, “and don’t think for a second that you’re going to stop me. Especially not with your record.”  
Taylor rolled his eyes.  
“Don’t roll your eyes at me,” she called him out, “I wouldn’t go if it wasn’t important.”  
“It’s Junia, isn’t it?” he frowned, “what are you doing?”  
“I met a translator at the school today who gave me an address to take her to. She said I had to do it after sundown,” Natalie pulled the note from her pocket and handed it over, “they used to own a pharmacy so they have all kinds of drugs there. If anyone can help her, they can.”  
“You can’t go alone,” Taylor insisted, “I’ll come with you.”  
“You’ll do no such thing. For all the patrols know this will be a house full of kids if they catch both of us and we can’t risk anyone thinking that.”  
Taylor rubbed his face, not liking this at all.  
“What if she was lying?” he cautioned, “what if they’re predators?”  
“After sick kids? Really?” Natalie scorned.  
“I should go instead,” Taylor suggested, “I can carry her when she can’t walk anymore. I can fight anyone off if I have to.”  
“There won’t be any fighting. You and I both know this might be her last chance,” Natalie’s voice lowered, “I heard you two talking. We both did. Let me at least try so that it won’t have to come to that.”  
Taylor looked over to where Junia still lay on the couch. He couldn’t quite see her but he could see Kate worriedly stroking her forehead.  
“How long will it take?” he leant over the counter.  
“Straight there and back, time for them to look her over… hopefully no more than an hour.”  
“Go before I change my mind and come after you,” Taylor relented.  
Natalie skirted around the counter to give him a quick hug and kiss.  
“Good luck,” he kissed her back.  
“I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

 _“Well I’m near the end and I just ain’t got the time…”_  
“It’s just a little further,” Natalie assured, stopping to wait as Junia had trouble keeping up.  
She managed to catch her breath and continue to stumble along. Natalie had kept her in shadows well off the road and had purposely dressed the both of them in dark clothing. So far they hadn’t been sighted despite passing at least one patrol.  
Just as promised, they soon reached the house. A candle sat on one of the front windowsills and lights were on inside. Natalie instructed Junia to wait in the darkness at the side of the porch as she quickly crept up to the front door and knocked. Almost immediately she heard footsteps coming to answer.  
“Who is it?” an older male voice came through the door.  
“Someone who needs help,” Natalie replied, trying not to be too loud.  
She wasn’t sure what the situation with the neighbors was.   
The door opened a smidge and all she could see was an eye and a white beard.  
“Who needs help?” he demanded.  
Natalie ushered Junia over to her, and the young girl followed her up the steps.  
“My niece,” Natalie explained, indicating her.  
Once the man saw her he opened the door.  
“Come in, quickly,” he insisted.  
Natalie pulled her in moments before the door closed and locked behind them. She was already having second thoughts, despite knowing why they had to be so secretive if the rumor had been true.  
He led them down a rickety hallway toward an old dining room where they met what Natalie assumed to be his wife.  
“Who was it?” she was asking, just cleaning up from a meal.  
“A child in need,” the old man replied.  
The woman immediately dropped everything, wiping her hands off before coming to see.  
“What’s wrong honey?” she asked, directing her attention to Junia.  
“She has a fever,” Natalie gently stroked her hair as Junia cuddled into her side, “it’s been getting worse over the last couple of days. Someone at her school told me about this place because I was trying to argue why she couldn’t go.”  
“Let me feel,” the woman held her hand out, waiting for confirmation.  
She felt Junia’s forehead, her expression falling further.  
“You’re certainly in no condition to be going to school young lady,” she assured before looking to Natalie, “we aren’t doctors but we’ll do what we can. Without the proper instruments it’s mostly guesswork here.”  
“What do you think it is?” Natalie knew they’d have to take all the help they could get anyway.  
“Most likely an infection, maybe in her chest. Is it hard to breathe honey?”  
“She has been coughing,” Natalie confirmed.  
“We’ll put her on some antibiotics and if there’s no improvement within two days we’ll have to try something else.”  
“The school has only allowed her two days off, including today. So we have tomorrow but after that they said they were going to send a doctor over. I know you’d understand when I say we can’t really call any undue attention on ourselves.”  
“Are you with the resistance?” the woman asked, “I don’t recognize you, sorry.”  
“Resistance? You know of a resistance?” Natalie was surprised.  
They always assumed it was happening, but they hadn’t actually found anyone involved in one yet.  
“It may not be my place to say,” the woman quickly brushed over, “come with me honey. What’s your name?”  
“Junia,” Natalie supplied for her, following as the woman took her further toward the back of the house.  
She opened what appeared to be a false wall, turning a light on to reveal shelves full of various medications. Needles sat atop a sink to the right waiting to be sterilized and other basic tools of medicine were scattered on a bench that circled the whole area.  
To Natalie it looked like a sunrise. If this couldn’t help Junia she didn’t know what would.

_“And I’m wasted and I can’t find my way home…”_


	4. Faith

_“On that depressing note.”  
“We’ll pick it right back up I promise. Next song, George Michael. If you have any dancing shoes this is your thirty second warning to get those babies out.”  
“Do we even have anything by George Michael?”  
“I did bring one especially for this occasion-“  
“For depressing everybody?”  
“No, because I knew the religious treaty was this week.”  
“It’s not-“  
“Damn right it’s_ Faith.”  
 _“Of course it is.”  
“I think we need a little faith right now. Faith that this is all going to turn out okay. That things will go back to normal.”  
“And who decides what normal is anyway, right? It used to be the conservatives versus the liberals, societal norms, political correctness, people trying to do the right thing. But maybe normal is just trying to earn a living. Maybe it’s wanting to watch your kids grow and prosper. Maybe it’s wanting to leave a decent legacy behind.”  
“All of which we can probably still do, if you work at it.”  
“And no one ever got anything they deserved for doing nothing. Can we look at this like a cleanse?”  
“Probably not the best word to use considering the amount of death around these times.”  
“That’s true, and hopefully I haven’t offended anyone. I did mean more so in a spiritual sense. Almost like the Great Change has given many of us a new sense of purpose, a new sense of helping our fellow man.”  
“We are more likely to stop and help people in need, I’ve seen that for myself.”  
“I know I’ve sure done it. I’m not sure that I know anyone who hasn’t. That’s a legacy right there, we’re able to outright show our kids how to be more active in helping people.”  
“To think we all used to be so worried about things like this. You know to be afraid to stop and help someone on the motorway because you’re afraid of getting your car stolen, or of helping someone in the streets because you’re worried you’ll be robbed. Now it’s like a clean slate.”  
“It’s amazing how people change when their slate is wiped clean, for sure. Or when you’re all reduced down to the same or similar societal level. We all have to deal with the same bullshit now so in the worst of ways it’s kind of refreshing that we’re all in this together as Americans.”  
“I think that’s about as positive as we’re going to get tonight. Can I play it now?”  
“Go ahead.”  
“Yes!”_

 _“But I’ve got to think twice before I give my heart away, and I know all the games you play because I play them too…”_  
“How is she?” Taylor looked up from where he’d been reading Natalie’s book in bed.  
“No change yet but hopefully in the morning,” Natalie sighed as she started to undress, “they gave us some antibiotics for what they think is a chest infection.”  
“Would a chest infection cause a fever that bad?” Taylor frowned, watching her.  
“I don’t know. But I’m no expert.”  
“What did they say?”  
Natalie finished getting changed and came over to the bed. He handed her the book to put aside before shifting to make room for her to get in.  
“If there’s no improvement in two days I need to take her back for something stronger. Hopefully a day of rest tomorrow will do the trick because the school only gave us a two day reprieve.”  
“Do you need me to go down there?” he offered.  
“No, I doubt it would do any good.”  
“There must be something I can do,” he frowned, hating feeling helpless.  
“You can find fuel for the generator. That’s what we’ll need the most soon.”  
“We have the treaty tomorrow,” he reminded her as she turned off her lamp, “I might not have time to get away.”  
“Do you have anywhere in mind to go?”  
Taylor paused, trying to think of a place to admit to that wouldn’t worry her.  
“Unless we find something to barter with tomorrow,” he thought out loud, “you never know who you’re going to meet at these things.”  
“What could we barter?” she frowned, “we’ve had to hand over most things already.”  
“I’ll have a quick look in the morning. If someone’s willing to give up fuel they might have use for things that need it that we don’t.”  
“Like appliances?”  
“Yeah. For a start.”  
Natalie shifted on the bed as he turned his own light off and settled down.  
“There’s something else,” she admitted.  
“What is it?” he immediately tensed.  
“Nothing like that,” she quickly put a hand on his arm, “the lady we saw tonight asked me if we were part of the resistance.”  
Taylor sat up again.  
“Resistance?” he wasn’t sure he heard right.  
“Yes. Apparently quite a few of the local people are involved.”  
“Did you find out anything? Is there any way we can help?”  
“No, I was more focused on Junia. The timing wasn’t right.”  
Taylor lay down again, his heart racing now.  
“But now we have someone with a connection so maybe…”  
“Now we know that there actually is one,” Taylor corrected.  
“Maybe we can look into helping when our own problems settle down,” Natalie continued anyway.  
“I need to tell Zac.”  
“You can do it tomorrow,” she insisted as she closed her eyes, “or better yet, do it when Junia feels better. Don’t go worrying him more than necessary.”  
“I’ll try but no promises.”

 _“I need some time off from that emotion, time to pick my heart up off the floor…”_  
“Is this it?” Zac looked over the boxes on the kitchen counter.  
“I hope so,” Taylor heaved a sigh, “but who knows what these people even consider religious artefacts. Obviously Christmas trees and angels but what about tinsel or wreaths? I mean where does it end?”  
“It feels wrong,” Zac shook his head.  
“I don’t think it was ever supposed to feel good,” Taylor grabbed a box and went to set it by the front door.  
Zac took a second one over to join it. There was a pile of four by the door plus another three on the counter.  
“Maybe we should keep something,” Zac hated to say, “a rosary or…”  
“We can’t Zac.”  
Zac cut himself off, knowing it wasn’t worth the argument. They were going to be in enough trouble if the patrols figured out even half of what they were hiding.  
“Do you have a way to get these there?” Zac realized he hadn’t asked.  
“Magic,” Taylor smirked, “I’ll use one of the kids’ trolley carts. I’ll bring it to the door because I need to get going soon.”  
“I thought you were going to wait until Nat got home?”  
“Might not have the option, this isn’t going to be a fast walk.”  
Taylor disappeared out the back and Zac continued to move the boxes to the door. He could hear the squeaky wheels of the cart long before he saw his brother’s shadow in the windows as he got closer. Once the cart was set up they loaded the boxes on, and by the time they were done with that Ezra and Penny had arrived home from school.  
“Any sign of your Mom down the road?” Taylor asked them as they approached.  
“Nope,” Penny shook her head.  
“We usually beat her home by heaps though,” Ezra pointed out.  
“He’s got a point,” Zac agreed.  
“Mind coming with me to the treaty?” Taylor asked his eldest, “just in case I need help.”  
“Sure. Let me just dump my stuff.”  
The two went into the house and Zac leant in to his brother.  
“Is that the best idea?” he cautioned, “you never know what he’s going to see out there.”  
“He’s already seen it,” Taylor blew off, “I’m not sure it could get any worse.”  
“Famous last words.”  
Taylor paused at that, but Ezra had soon returned. Zac went back inside and the two set off with the cart.

 _“You mean every word you say, can’t help but think of yesterday…”_  
The line of people stretched for blocks, and when they joined the end of it they couldn’t even see the gates. Taylor kept an eye on the time worried that Ezra was going to end up having a late night. Hopefully being out after curfew wouldn’t count in this case. They certainly wouldn’t be the only ones.  
As the line moved forward the two of them hinted to passers-by that they were willing to barter for fuel. Most people wondered why they wanted any in the first place until they admitted that they had a generator they wanted to get going. Hours into the wait and they found someone willing to trade a gallon for a coffee machine. Taylor promised to make the exchange the following morning on his way to work so they exchanged details and shook hands before parting ways.  
The sun was well and truly setting by the time they made it to the front of the line where members of the army were inducting people.  
“Names?” the officer didn’t even look up.  
“Jordan Hanson and Jordan Hanson,” Taylor offered, already pulling the lanyard from over his head because he knew there would be issues.  
The officer took it and checked the ID number against a large book. Taylor took Ezra’s from him to pass over as well just in case he wanted to check both. In the end it wasn’t needed and they were directed toward security. Both Hansons went through a pat down before being able to take their cart through into the stadium. The lights inside were brighter than day, but they were no match for the massive bonfire in the middle of the field.  
Thousands of people surrounded the fire, passing over their possessions to designated soldiers who then threw them into the fire. No one was rejoicing, plenty of people were in tears. A video played on the large screen at one end of the field but it wasn’t in English and they weren’t close enough to read the subtitles.  
“Let’s get this over with and go home,” Taylor insisted, making sure Ezra stayed close as he took the cart forward.  
They found what Taylor judged to be the shortest line and joined it. From there it was more fast-paced, and once the elderly people in front moved out of the way Taylor positioned the cart for the soldier to lift the boxes easily. He didn’t even bother saying a word to them before grabbing things from the boxes and throwing them onto the fire. Taylor had to stand back and let him, so he ended up putting an arm around Ezra’s shoulder in an effort to stop himself intervening.  
They could see where most of it was going, and had to watch as cheap decorations and family heirlooms alike were slowly reduced to nothing. Taylor found it hard to stay composed, but having Ezra there automatically helped. He had to stay strong for him and for the others.  
Once their cart was empty they were allowed to take it away. They had to return through security so the cart could be checked over and the guards could make sure they weren’t smuggling anything out, before they made it back onto the street and finally began to head home.  
The line outside the stadium looked just as long as when they’d arrived.

 _“Because I gotta have faith, faith, faith…”_  
“I found someone to trade our coffee machine for a gallon of fuel tomorrow,” Taylor was already focusing on the positives as Natalie helped him organize a late dinner for he and Ezra.  
“Which one?” Natalie wasn’t sure why she was surprised, it wasn’t as though they were getting any use anymore.  
“That one, hopefully,” Taylor pointed to the one on the counter, “and God willing I can talk him into taking something else for more. He didn’t sound like he’d miss the fuel all that much.”  
“Well that’s good,” Natalie handed Ezra a bowl.  
“Hopefully, being the keyword here,” Taylor pointed out, “how was Junia today?”  
“She’s eating, but not too much. Her fever doesn’t seem as bad so hopefully it’s breaking.”  
“That’s good too,” Taylor took the second bowl she offered, “maybe this week won’t finish so bad after all.”  
“Well we’ve made that mistake before,” she said.  
“Will she be okay to take to school tomorrow?”  
“We won’t have a choice. She has to go either way. We just have to pray she’ll be better by morning.”  
Taylor glanced across at Ezra who readily met his gaze.   
“Maybe you should go a bit earlier tomorrow in case they need the help?” he suggested.  
“I could carry her a little way,” Ezra agreed.  
“Then you’d better hurry and get to bed,” Natalie insisted.  
“I’m working on it,” he went back to eating.  
“And I’ll make the trade on my way to work. I should be able to drop the fuel home at lunch for Zac or Kate to deal with,” Taylor reasoned with himself.


	5. Only The Good Die Young

_“You’re back listening to Radio One, possibly the last radio station in America.”  
“Definitely the last one that we know of.”  
“I know we’re not supposed to talk about ourselves too much just in case the wrong people are listening, but you just played a song from your collection and now… I’m lining up one from mine.”  
“I’ll stop you before you go into why this one’s important because I just know you were going to.”  
“…I was, that’s true. But in all this guy was just a big influence on me and mine and listening to his music will always take me back to before times changed. Before musicians were persecuted and even before the political landscape of America went so haywire.”  
“Back when he was alive. I can see what you’re putting on.”  
“Back when a lot of musicians were alive and back before we were supposed to die too.”  
“God rest the souls of those taken from us too soon.”  
“Amen. I keep thinking we should offer a moment of silence but that’s kind of the complete opposite of why we’re here, isn’t it? We’re doing this so people don’t have to endure the silence anymore. I know my family certainly got so used to the crutch of technology that someone was always either in front of the TV or had their iPad or iPod with their headphones on. Maybe we didn’t listen to too much radio but there was always _sound _in and around the house, and not just coming from me.”  
“I know what you mean, and it spun me out at first too. Especially the TV thing. Who didn’t catch up on their favorite shows at the end of every day? It was just the done thing.”  
“Right, and of course the big thing in our house was music. Now that’s been taken away.”  
“You were a lucky one too because you weren’t officially raided.”  
“Yes and I can’t go into why that’s the case on air either because it will definitely give me away. We were definitely lucky. Many others were not, and the mass grave outside of town is unliving proof of that. A lot of people lost family, lost friends, workmates… ourselves included. All because some asshole with a pickle in his booty decided he wanted to punish us more than we had been already.”  
“Make no mistake, this was nothing more than punishment. This isn’t normal even for where they came from. I don’t know how much research people got in before the phone lines went down and I certainly know a lot of people personally who wish they’d done more of it but what you’re seeing and doing and breathing in right now is not at all what it is like over there and don’t let anyone tell you different.”  
“The both of us have been lucky enough to travel to all parts of the world with our old jobs, and I’ll forever be grateful that I got to do that while I could.”  
“Yes, me too.”  
“But in all the places I’ve been to I have never heard of or seen such repression as to what is happening right here right now. Basic human rights have been taken from us, and we have no way of letting the world outside know what is going on. I mean does anyone out there know? Does anyone care? Do they think we brought this on ourselves?”  
“I doubt Radio One has reach across the oceans, but if there is anyone out there listening that is not on American soil I hope you’re getting the scope of how bad this actually is.”  
“Even we can’t really scale this proportionately. We have people in what used to be middle and upper class America dying of things like starvation and curable disease. It’s like the zombie apocalypse out there without any zombies!”  
“That we know of.”  
“That we know of, yet. I’ll give you that one.”  
“Are you going to play this song or are we going to go off on a zombie tangent?”  
“I’m going to play this song because I know how the alternative ends. It ends in us being here all night and me never getting home. Hope our listeners appreciate some Billy Joel.”_

 _“But sooner or later it comes down to faith, I might as well be the one…”_  
“She not well.”  
“I told you that,” Natalie insisted, “but you said we could only have two days.”  
“She see a doctor.”  
“We can’t afford a doctor. She’s getting better, she just needs rest.”  
“No more days. She see a doctor. Go there,” the stout woman pointed to the right.  
Natalie bit her lip, knowing no one at home was going to like this. But she bid farewell to the group of five that were already checked in and told Ezra to keep an eye on the time. He and Penny would have to leave for the high school very soon. She already wasn’t sure if she’d get Junia home on her own if she had to.  
The school doctor was in a small white tent close to administration and there was already a line of children looking forlorn and parents looking anxious. Natalie was sure they were going to fit right in.  
“Wait off to the side,” she instructed her two, “I don’t want either of you getting sick if anyone’s contagious.”  
They reluctantly did as asked. But by the time the line passed halfway they had to leave them in order to get to school on time. It was another good twenty minutes or so after that when Junia was finally seen to.  
The doctor was military and his first language was not English, so Natalie tried to listen closely. From what she understood he had similar suspicions to the older couple that had seen her two nights ago, but he only prescribed her half the dosage of antibiotics along with two further days off school. Natalie made sure to thank him but the walk home was nerve wracking. She had to somehow tell everyone that their weekly rations were going to be cut because of it.  
If only they’d known about the old pharmacists earlier. If only she’d taken her there earlier.  
The walk home was extra long because Natalie couldn’t carry her niece as Ezra had on the way there, but it gave her more time to think of what to say when she did finally get home. Kate set Junia back on the couch right away with a children’s book and large bottle of rainwater.

 _“You might have heard I run with a dangerous crowd, we ain’t too pretty we ain’t too proud, we might be laughing a bit too loud…”_  
“Yes! I’d been hoping I’d find one of these,” the older man was grinning ear to ear as he looked the coffee machine over, “they’re like hen’s teeth now. Most people just disposed of them when they figured the electricity was never getting turned back on.”  
“We’ve been lucky enough to run a generator when we need it,” Taylor rubbed his arms down, having carried the heavy machine all this way, “which is actually what I need the fuel for.”  
“Right, the fuel. I forgot what we were bartering for. Two gallons, yes?”  
“Sure,” Taylor tried to hold in any kind of reaction to him suddenly doubling his offer.  
He needed to take all that he could get.  
“You know I think I have another one or two at home if you’d be willing to trade for more,” he offered as the man set it aside.  
“This was the one I was after. I’ve turned many others down,” he disappeared into a garden shed as Taylor’s heart sank.  
He’d gotten more than expected from the transaction to begin with so he knew he had no right to be disappointed.  
The man reappeared with two gallon bottles of fuel as promised and set them on the ground.  
“However if you have anything else I’d be interested in, I’d be willing to hear you out,” he offered.  
“Like what?” Taylor jumped on, “I haven’t even found anyone else that has a way of getting fuel, so if I can help you with anything just please let me know. We have a sick little girl at home.”  
“That’s a shame,” he could tell by his tone that he didn’t really care, “you got any tools?”  
“Maybe…” Taylor’s mind raced to think of what he had at home along with what they’d salvaged from the old studio, “what kind do you need?”  
“I want to build cars,” the man seemed coy, as if that wasn’t all he was planning on building, “got anything that can help with that?”  
“I can have a look and find out,” Taylor started stretching his hands in preparation to carry the fuel, “where did you even get all this from?”  
“Friend of mine ran a truck stop not far from here. Don’t bother looking, I’ve emptied the fuel tanks,” he warned, “God rest his soul I believe he would have wanted me to have it.”  
“Sorry for your loss.”  
The man waved him off.  
“What’s your name?” he thought to ask, quickly checking his watch.  
“Carl is all you need to know,” he offered a hand.  
“Jordan,” Taylor shook it, “thanks again. This will go to great use.”  
“I’m sure it will. You get back to me if you find anything worth my having.”  
“Will do.”

 _“So come on Virginia show me a sign, send up a signal and I’ll throw you the line. The stained-glass curtain you’re hiding behind never lets in the sun… darling only the good die young…”_  
“I hope Tay finds some fuel today. Junia’s not the only one who needs the air running again,” Zac was using an old magazine to fan himself.  
“Missing the good old days of having a cold shower?” Kate mused, fixing something small for Junia’s lunch.  
“Missing the good old days of air conditioning,” Zac corrected, “if nothing changes by summer we’re all just going to melt.”  
“Considering how close it is I don’t like our chances.”  
Zac grunted in agreement, continuing to fan himself.  
“At the very least we’re going to need some better circulation in the basement,” he reasoned before jumping at a sudden knock at the front door.  
It was loud and fast, signalling urgency. Zac sprang from his place at the counter to hide just inside the hall only waiting to make sure Kate followed him. Natalie appeared at the third knock looking dishevelled. She’d been trying to sleep off the morning.  
After making sure Zac was out of sight she pulled the door open.  
“Ike?!” she was surprised to see him, “what are you-“  
“A tornado hit the school,” he blurted out before she could say more, “the sirens went off and we saw it and Nicole went straight down there but I knew you guys wouldn’t know about it.”  
“Go,” Zac insisted, emerging from his hiding place the moment he knew who it was, “if Tay gets home before you I’ll send him over.”  
Natalie had barely taken a breath. But in the next one she had her lanyard and was following Isaac out the door.  
“Wait!” Zac bolted for the door after them, “which school?!”  
“Elementary!” Isaac called back before leading Natalie away.


	6. Bitter Tears

_“Let’s not talk zombies. So what else can we talk about that isn’t dark and depressing?”  
“Not a lot. We don’t have community notices, we don’t have weather updates…”  
“We’re a pretty pathetic radio show when you think about it.”  
“But we have survived, so that has to mean something.”  
“We don’t have guest speakers or interviews…”  
“No sport reports.”  
“Just some decent music, I hope. Hopefully people think our choices are decent. We saved a lot of CDs and tapes so you’re kinda getting what you’re given out there. And once we’ve gone through them all we’ll probably just end up replaying them over and over.”  
“Just like a real radio station really.”  
“Exactly! We’re looking better every day.”  
“The next song I have lined up is one that – purely through the band not being from here – reminds me that there is a whole wide world outside of this chaos. That there are actually people out there that want to help us and are probably really trying hard to on a day to day basis.”  
“It’s easy to forget that the world doesn’t revolve around your neighborhood when you’re so cut off from everyone and everything.”  
“Right, and I do wholeheartedly believe that there is help on the way. It may take a while and I’m sure we’ll lose a lot more along the way while we’re waiting but I do believe salvation is on the way. We just need to hold on a little longer.”  
“But until that time, we need to be looking out for one another. Look out for your neighbors, look out for your family, or whoever you have left. If you can do a small kindness for anyone at all don’t bother to hesitate. Don’t put yourself in any kind of danger, but we need to be helping our fellow man in whatever tiny way we might be able to. Take someone’s dog for a walk. Check on the old lady next door. Play ball with your niece or nephew.”  
“Surprise your wife with flowers you’ve picked from the road.”  
“It doesn’t have to be anything major at all just a little something to show that you’re not willing to give in. To show your solidarity as an American, no matter what they try and take from us.”  
“And as we keep saying, we’re all in this together.”  
“Honestly that’s making me wish we had some Ben Lee to play.”  
“You people should have seen the heart eyes this guy just gave me while we’re talking about the love of the people.”  
“Speak for yourself. Play your song.”  
“Alright. Just for you fine people out there, here’s some INXS.”_

_“In the mist of my endless search the best in life becomes clear, the rest just begins to fade by itself that’s a trick I learned though it took so long…”_  
There was already a large crowd surrounding the school by the time Isaac and Natalie made it there. Panicked and angry parents made it hard to work out where to go and they were being held back by armed militants. Isaac soon sighted a makeshift line which appeared to lead into the school’s old auditorium and took Natalie’s hand to make sure he didn’t lose her in the crowd. There were no kids among the crowd outside here so his priority shifted to finding his wife.  
They were desperately searching the line when Natalie heard someone calling her name. She stopped short enough to cause Isaac to falter, but before he could ask what had happened he spotted him.  
“Everett!” he ran for him, expecting Natalie to follow.  
Still having to fight a crowd of people, she only made it to their side when Everett had forced his father’s hug to end.  
“Do you know where your Mom is?” Isaac had a tight grip on his shoulders, afraid of losing him in the rush.  
“She’s out on the field,” Everett indicated the way, “they were matching kids and parents up. That’s what the line is.”  
“How many has she found?” Natalie resisted the urge to take off, knowing her chance of finding them was slim at best.  
“They’re mostly together except for River and Viggo and Shepherd.”  
“Where are they?” Isaac frowned, “shouldn’t Monroe be with Viggo and Shepherd?”  
“The storm hit their room hard,” Everett explained, keeping surprisingly composed, “they didn’t have time to get out. But they blocked the place off so no one can get in while they do the rescuing. Monroe only came out to tell us that River snuck in and he hadn’t seen the other two.”  
“Let’s go find your Mom,” Isaac moved his hand to take Everett’s, “don’t lose us in the crowd.”  
Natalie put a hand on Isaac’s shoulder as she nervously followed behind. Her heart was nearly thudding out of her chest and she was already wondering how she was ever supposed to meet up with Taylor in this mess. Everett was evidently not supposed to be out in the crowd of adults so they’d only gotten lucky in his case.  
He led them to the edge of the field where they had to show their lanyards in order to be let through. Everett then directed them to the left of the crowd, hoping himself that he could actually find the family again. As they moved further over the long-dead grass they could begin to see part of the destruction done to the back of the school. Knowing that two of her sons were possibly still in there somewhere Natalie was already having trouble staying composed.  
When Everett got to the point where he thought his mother should have been, he paused and started calling for her. Of the women that automatically turned their heads to the sound of ‘Mom’ Isaac was able to spot his wife instantly. He fought his way through the crowd to pull her into a hug right away, soon replacing her with Monroe.  
Natalie’s eyes teared up the moment she spotted Willa and right away pulled her into her arms.  
“I’m sorry Nat I haven’t seen them yet,” Nikki apologized, “I only know what Monroe’s told us.”  
“River’s okay, but he went back in,” Monroe reiterated what Everett had already told them.  
“Thank you,” Natalie wiped at her eyes as she let Willa go and quickly hugged Abraham.  
The boy was looking upset at having neither of his parents there but it couldn’t be helped.  
“Where’s Taylor?” Nikki asked her husband.  
“At work. They’ll send him over when he gets home if he doesn’t hear from someone else first,” Isaac replied.  
“Lucky you lived close enough to hear the sirens,” Natalie tried to keep her mind occupied.  
“Maybe we should move closer to the side so the boys can find us,” Isaac suggested, already feeling a little claustrophobic.  
“That’s what I’m here for,” Everett was offering, “should I go look again?”  
“Take your Aunt with you,” Nikki insisted, “and be careful.”  
“Stay here,” Natalie told Willa and Abe, “and stay close. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”  
Once she was sure Willa was okay enough to be left, she followed a patient Everett back through the crowd. Worried within seconds that she was going to lose him despite him keeping a careful eye on her, she eventually took his hand just in case.  
They’d barely made it out of the crowd when they caught sight of Shepherd. He’d already spotted them and was waving as hard as he could. They bee lined for him.

 _“In the hour of your needs, lips are trembling cause you’re gonna be free. Realize what we’re doing here the time is right to kill your fears…”_  
Taylor stopped and set the bottles on the ground, having to stretch his back and his hands. It had been a hard day carrying them around everywhere but he could only think of how much it would be worth it to get the fans going again and be able to properly cook their food. The sun bearing down on him made him sure he was going to be covered in sunburn the next day but thankfully he was already looking forward to a much needed day off.  
With not much further to go he psyched himself up for the final leg home. The walk took another twenty minutes or so and he took the fuel straight around the back where it hopefully wouldn’t be seen by anyone coming up to the house. He’d barely closed the shed door when he heard the back door of the house open and saw Zac emerge onto the patio.  
“Two gallons!” he called out to him, stretching out his hands again as he made his way back into the shade, “twice as much as we were hoping for. Plus the guy said he’d be willing to trade building tools for more.”  
“That’s good,” Zac agreed.  
“What is it?” Taylor demanded the moment he saw his face, not giving him a chance to elaborate first.  
“You need to get down to the school. Ike and Nat are already there.”  
“Why? Which school?”  
“The elementary. We’ll be here if Ezra and Penny come home,” Zac assured.  
“Why? What’s wrong?!” Taylor was riling up already.

 _“Bitter tears taste so sweet, I’m seeing my way for the first time in years…”_  
Taylor fought his way through the crowd, desperate for any sign of familiar faces. A line of ambulances had formed toward the back of the school but the parents weren’t allowed back there. He soon worked out that the kids had been generally confined to the field and made his way out there. He was just about to show his ID to one of the guards when he felt someone grab hold of his arm.  
“Come this way,” he looked down to see a very white Everett.  
His expression sent a shiver down Taylor’s spine. Once he started following him down the edge of the crowd he soon caught sight of Shepherd standing at the edge of one of the untouched buildings. Taylor couldn’t yet see any of the destruction but he knew it had to be massive for this kind of response. Once he made it to the corner he got his first glimpse. If it had been anywhere else he could have pictured his brothers laughing over the damage and wanting to see videos from it, but knowing that the building had once held hundreds of children squashed into classes designated by age…  
“Where?” was all he got out, already struggling for breath.  
Shepherd pointed him in the right direction, Everett choosing to stay with his cousin. There were grieving parents scattered everywhere and some of them were even covered in blood. Guards patrolled with machine guns in case anyone became unruly. It felt like forever before he found them.  
River was standing over a crumbled Natalie, wailing as she held a lifeless Viggo in her arms.


	7. Long Time

_“We need to look on the bright side of life, right? We need to find the little things on a day to day basis that make this worth fighting for. It could be something as simple as a sunrise, a sunset… the sound of laughter from your neighbor’s house. A rainbow. If you’re lucky enough to still have any, the smell of fresh coffee in the morning.”  
“Playing with your dog or cat. Hanging with your mates. We can’t really have nights out the same way we used to but you could always catch up for lunch or help out somewhere of an afternoon.”  
“And that’s something else I was going to bring up too. Helping others. The old soup kitchens and charity stalls that were in place before the war, most of them are still out there and are still working hard. So if you can give anything even if it’s just your time, I guarantee it’s appreciated by all involved.”  
“I can vouch for that. My wife and I, and I know my colleague and his family, were all heavily involved in multiple charity projects before the war, and everyone I still talk to that used to be involved sure as hell still is. They’re also rocking it and doing an incredible job with what little they have, and if you are in need of help yourself or in need of a little charity don’t be afraid to seek one out. There are plenty of people out there more than willing to help a struggling family out.”  
“I think there are actually some places being set up where you can donate any extra rations to people who maybe don’t have enough as well. A lot of people did have access to fresh produce that were involved in charity pre-war and again those people are still out there working hard. So definitely, definitely seek them out if you’re in any trouble. I know I already have a few times.”  
“I’ve been lucky enough to not need to use their services yet but I’ve certainly leant a hand on a day or two off.”  
“Sure and usually on a weekend I’ll take the family down to help out too. It’s getting a little harder with having to work longer hours but every little bit helps for sure.”  
“That it does. So to sum it all up, help a brother out. Look for the light in the otherwise darkness. Make sure your neighbors are doing alright. Check on the old folks around you.”  
“Let’s help each other get through this temporary world so we’re ready and raring to build the next.”  
“Here’s _Long Time _by Boston with_ Foreplay _intact.”_

 _“It’s been such a long time, I think I should be going. Time doesn’t wait for me it keeps on rolling…”_  
Zac jumped to his feet when he heard the front door opening. It was long after dark and he and Kate had only been growing more and more worried. He’d fixed dinner for Ezra, Penny and Junia before they’d settled in the living room to wait up.  
Isaac was the first to appear, closely followed by the somber group of children.  
“Ike? What are you doing here?” Zac’s heart leapt into his chest as Penny came to his side.  
Isaac put a finger to his lips, indicating for them not to say anything. He directed the kids into the living room and they quietly moved in. At the first sight of Shepherd and Abraham Kate leapt to her feet to pull them into a hug.  
“What happened?” Penny asked a red-faced Everett as he passed her, but he didn’t reply.  
Nikki held the door for Natalie who was wiping her eyes as she came in holding Willa’s hand. Taylor came last carrying Viggo in his arms. Zac could instantly tell something was wrong not only by the look on his brother’s face but in how limp Viggo was.  
“Come in and sit down,” he quickly turned his attention to the kids, guessing already at what they’d been through and transitioning into a protective Uncle.  
“Oh my God!” Kate knew the moment she saw them and couldn’t hold in her reaction.  
She pulled herself to her feet and covered her face.  
“Mom?” Ezra wasn’t sure.  
“Don’t look honey, don’t look,” Natalie’s voice broke as she pulled both he and Penny into a tight hug.  
Taylor stoically continued toward the back door which Isaac opened for him. River disappeared down the hall, quickly returning with a sheet to follow his father and uncle outside with. Once Natalie let go of Ezra and Penny Kate pulled her in for a hug too. Natalie had managed to hold her tears in again until that moment.  
“What’s he doing?” Ezra asked as Penny started to bite her nails.  
“Don’t worry about it yet,” Natalie insisted, “we need everyone to get together and have a talk.”  
“I’ll start some dinner for anyone that wants some,” Kate gave her a pat on the back before heading for the kitchen.  
“We told them about the tornado,” Zac came back to tell Natalie, “but I never thought-“  
“It’s okay, thank you,” she put a hand on his chest as she stepped past and headed for the group.  
Zac debated following his brothers outside or staying with the kids when Isaac appeared at the back door again and nodded for him. Seeing that Nikki would be staying with Natalie he quickly obliged.  
“Go back inside,” Taylor was telling River as he finished placing the sheet over Viggo.  
“But Dad-“  
“Go _back inside_!” his voice rose without meaning to.  
Isaac gave his nephew’s shoulder a squeeze before directing him to the door. Taylor wouldn’t make eye contact with either of his brothers as Zac approached.  
“I’m sorry Tay,” Zac wasn’t sure what to do, already finding it odd that they’d done a complete flip from the night before.  
“Just say something,” Taylor leant against the edge of the wooden table, feeling like he was ready to collapse, “he needs his last rites.”  
Zac shot Isaac a glance but got nothing from his expression.   
“I can do that,” he assured, holding back from touching his brother.  
Taylor finally fell to his knees, still able to easily lean on the table and clasp his hands. Isaac kept his distance but remained in support. Zac debated trying to find a single remnant of Christianity in the house but quickly decided to go ahead without.

 _“Sail on, on a distant highway. I’ve got to keep on chasing a dream, I’ve gotta be on my way. Wish there was something I could say…”_  
“Are we really just going to leave him out there?” Natalie was afraid to ask, unsure of Taylor’s mental state when he finally came to bed.  
“Where else are we going to put him, Nat?” he sat on the edge of the bed to take off his boots.  
He was already making the sheets dirty but she knew he didn’t care. Once he had his feet free he paused trying to think of what to do next. He couldn’t remember where he’d put his pyjamas when he’d taken them off that morning.  
“Did Isaac and Nikki stay?” Natalie asked, trying to snap him out of it.  
“Yeah. They’ll leave in the morning,” he confirmed, “we’re sure Jess knows what happened by now. Her neighbor’s kids went there.”  
“Okay.”  
“He’s going to help me dig first.”  
Natalie’s breath caught in her throat as the memories of the afternoon she’d already tried to repress came flooding back. At the same time Taylor spotted his pyjama shorts and stood to fetch them.  
“I found some photos on my phone,” she reached over to fetch it from the bedside table, “I don’t know if you can print them or not but I don’t want to lose them and I don’t know how long the phone will last.”  
Taylor finished getting dressed and finally came to the bed. She set the phone down again.  
“I can try next time I go to the printers,” he offered, pulling the sheets aside and getting in.  
Natalie settled beside him not bothering to turn out the lights tonight. He reached for her hands and took them tightly in his with a sigh.  
“We can do this,” she was worried by how he was noticeably avoiding eye contact already, “we can get through this. One step at a time.”  
“I’ve had my doubts,” Taylor admitted softly, “I wasn’t sure we could do it even when we were whole. Now it feels like they’ve taken everything. He was just a kid.”  
“I know.”  
Taylor closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His heart was hurting in a way he’d never felt before and he knew hers would be too. It was the only thing stopping him from completely breaking down.  
“But we have four other kids out there that are going to want to know what to do tomorrow,” Natalie went on, “and we need to be able to tell them. That’s our job now.”  
“I can’t even tell Mom and Dad,” Taylor changed the subject slightly, “I can’t even call Mac or Avie. No one’s even going to know until this all ends.”  
“Taylor… it might not end. This might not change inside of our generation,” Natalie was used to spurring his optimism on the subject but she’d had her doubts from day one, “we need to make sure the kids can prepare for a world outside of this, sure. But we need to face the possibility that this is it for us.”  
“I can’t do that,” Taylor finally looked her in the eye defiantly, “this can’t be it for us. We can’t _let_ this be it for us.”  
“We’re not letting anything,” Natalie was lenient, “but getting out isn’t going to be easy. We’re prisoners, Taylor. We still don’t know what that means for our future.”  
“Nothing good.”  
“I’m sure it’s nothing good. But that’s why we need to keep our heads down. We need to not be drawing attention to ourselves. We already have enough to hide with Zac here, we don’t need them taking anyone else from us.”  
“You’re asking me to stop,” he realized with a frown.  
“I’m asking you to please keep your head down,” her brow rose, “for us. The last thing we need right now is to lose you.”  
“We knew when we started that this wasn’t going to be easy,” he reasoned, “but we had to.”  
“I know you did,” she let go of one hand so she could gently rub his neck instead, “and I’m proud of you. But it’s more dangerous now.”  
“It’s no more dangerous today than it was yesterday, and I will be going back,” Taylor insisted to her dismay, “but I will deal with everything here first, I swear.”  
“I know you will.”  
She jumped and startled Taylor when she saw a shadow over his shoulder. When he turned to the doorway they saw River standing there with his pillow.  
“Can’t sleep,” he looked worried at intruding, “every time I close my eyes I just…”  
“Come here,” Taylor instantly sat up, inviting him onto the bed.  
He gratefully accepted, climbing over his father and landing in between them. Natalie put an arm over him as Taylor checked to make sure he was alone before laying down again.   
With his parents either side of him River was able to close his eyes again, focusing on the feel of his mother’s heartbeat and his father’s hand in his.

 _“Good times and faces that remind me, I’m trying to forget your name and leave it all behind me…”_  
“Okay everyone grab your craft stuff and pick out a spot on the floor. A few of you are going to have to share pencils and crayons because that’s just how the world works,” Zac was directing the mob, “we’re all going to either write a letter or draw something for Viggo. Myself included. I’m expecting most if not all of you to show me up.”  
Natalie was watching on, unable to smile. She’d just said a quick goodbye to Nikki who’d opted to leave early and head straight to Jess and Joe’s house in order to fetch her daughter and fill them in on what had happened. By the time the grave was dug if any of them wanted to pay their respects they should have had time to return.  
Taylor and Isaac were using the only two shovels Taylor had to dig the hole. Natalie couldn’t watch, and Kate had opted to keep an eye on them for her in case anything went wrong or they needed water. The weather was being relentless and Kate found herself fixing the sheet over Viggo when the wind picked up.  
Natalie kept a special watch over River. He seemed better this morning but the night before had reminded her that she wasn’t the only one who’d had to deal with his brother’s body. River had found him – he’d been the first to realize what had actually happened.  
The kids were quiet as they worked and Zac ‘inspected’ each work as it was finished. Making a game of it calmed a lot of them down and Natalie was grateful that he’d thought to do it in the first place. When they were about half done there was a knock at the door and already on edge Natalie went to check that it was indeed family. Thankfully Nikki had returned with Jess’s family in tow.  
Taylor and Isaac had started well before sunup but it still took them until well into the morning to get the job done. They found it awkwardly easy to move Viggo into the hole. Then they both showered and Isaac borrowed some of Taylor and Zac’s clothes before they called for everyone to get organized.  
Zac led a short service with extra emphasis on heaven for the benefit of the kids present. They were each given a chance to say a personal goodbye as their earlier creations went into the grave. Taylor held Natalie in his arms as they watched and listened, and once everyone had said their piece Natalie was the first to throw a gentle handful of dirt.  
Taylor barely said a word as the group started moving back into the house, both Natalie and Isaac waiting behind with him. Zac paused for a moment in case he was needed but opted to focus on the kids who were well and truly upset now.  
“Do you want to wait a while?” Isaac suggested, hands in his pockets as he tested the waters.  
Taylor just nodded, and Isaac took that as his cue to leave him be. Natalie pulled her husband into a hug and rather than return it he pulled her to the ground where they cradled each other in their arms.


	8. Rocky Mountain Way

_“While we’re on the subject of helping our fellow man…”  
“We weren’t really on the subject to begin with we just went way off on a tangent somewhere and here we are.”  
“Either way. However we got here. I want to ask people to do more than just watch over their neighbors. I also want to ask them to turn a blind eye.”  
“That sounds a little like an oxymoron.”  
“If you know your neighbor is a practising Christian for example, there’s no reason in the world for you to tell anyone about it. If you suspect they’re hiding something, maybe help them hide it a little better. Be their eyes but don’t be their police. We’re all in a transition period right now and not everyone has transitioned smoothly.”  
“I think I understand what you’re saying. A lot of people out there haven’t truly conformed to the regime yet and I know many of you simply don’t want to at all. But the military does have eyes everywhere so I would say on the one hand of course – help people out. But on the other, don’t put yourself in danger. It’s a bit of a fine line.”  
“Certainly don’t put yourself in as much danger as we have. But yeah, that’s what I meant. In a nutshell. Help remind people that we came from a place worth fighting for, and maybe you’ll help rekindle their fighting spirit too.”  
“There must be some kind of underground resistance group out there by now surely.”  
“I’ve often thought that. If there is, I don’t know any members, but damn I wish I did. I would be on that so fast.”  
“Same, I don’t think I could help myself.”  
“There’s something inherently spiritual about being on the front lines, isn’t there? And we’re not talking as men that fought in battle, I don’t believe either of us did.”  
“Not me.”  
“I’d like to take a moment to pay my respects to the many men and women that did lose their lives in this war. I know we haven’t really had time as a nation to stop and acknowledge the heroism that took place on our soil because we’ve all been so caught up in our own grief and our own situations. But I think you’d be hard pressed to find anyone out there who didn’t have a friend or relative who was called to the front lines to fight for us.”  
“I lost at least three mates.”  
“I lost many too, and I don’t know about you but I was never invited to a funeral and I doubt any of their family members were either.”  
“No I don’t think anyone’s even had a funeral since the bombs dropped.”  
“And that sucks. People need that kind of process in order to move on, for their closure and their peace of mind. Even if it were just a mass ceremony we needed something to pinpoint that moment - that turning point where we can start to move on. We’re caught in a nation of grief right now and we just can’t move on.”  
“I see where you’re coming from, but I also understand why many people wouldn’t take that path and why they wouldn’t take the time to organize something as such.”  
“Of course. Any major gathering of more than ten people raises suspicion and you don’t want the military involved. But there has to be ways around that and we just have to find them.”  
“I think the trick to getting around any of this, really, is going to be to look at the fine print. We were all given those brochures - those flyers. I think I have one of them here with me right now. They tell you basically what is and isn’t allowed. Now a lot of it admittedly is on rather a broad spectrum like possessing religious items. We may have been a Christian nation but many, many religions were practised here. Are they going to recognize everything? What may be a devout shrine in Hinduism may be an old Christian lady’s garden ornament. None of this has been made clear yet. We’re basically finding out by trial and error.”  
“And those trials are getting worse. I’ve already heard rumors of people being dragged from their homes purely because they were cousins of an old pastor. The brochures don’t say this but word of mouth tells us that anyone just related to someone openly practising is in mortal danger. These people don’t come back from wherever they’re taken.”  
“I know where they’re taken. I’ve seen it myself. There’s public executions going on every few days out in the open.”  
“See I didn’t know that.”  
“You do now. But as much as I’d love to elaborate on that heart-warming story, I’m going to save it for when we’re off the air. For everyone else here’s Joe Walsh.”_

_“Out to pasture think it’s safe to say, time to open fire…”_  
“We need to get going,” Isaac came over to the couch to inform Zac.  
“Okay,” he looked up, “I’ll let them know when they come back inside.”  
Isaac nodded before giving him a pat on the shoulder and going to collect Odette from the kitchen. Nikki already having the boys wrangled, Kate saw them out.   
“Do we have to go back to school on Monday?” Shepherd asked from the floor where he, River and Penny were partway through a board game.  
“I don’t know,” Zac answered honestly, “and I’m not sure how we’ll find out. So right now it’s probably best to prepare for ‘yes’.”  
River looked more worried than anybody at that. Zac didn’t know what to do to reassure him.  
It was another hour or two before Natalie emerged from the yard. Kate offered her a late lunch which she declined, opting instead for a quick shower. Zac got up to check on Taylor, seeing through the window that he was filling the grave on his own. With Kate there to watch over the kids he made his way outside and over to the shady patch.  
“Do you want some help?” he offered as he got closer, making sure to stay just out of range of the shovel.  
Taylor still hadn’t really reacted to his son’s death and Zac knew it had to just be building up. But if he wasn’t ready, he wasn’t ready.  
Taylor paused to lean on his shovel, looking down at how deep the hole was. Without saying a word he nodded toward the shovel that Isaac had been using. Zac immediately went to grab it knowing it was probably going to take until sundown to get this done already. In respectable silence the two carried on.

 _“And we don’t need the ladies crying ‘cause the story’s sad, ‘cause the rocky mountain way is better than the way we had…”_  
Taylor and Natalie awoke early Sunday morning to a knock at the front door. Unsure of what he’d heard at first, once Taylor heard the shouts he leapt to his feet and ran through the house. The movement startled River awake who’d again shared the bed the night before, and Natalie worked to calm him rather than join her husband.  
Ezra met his father in the hallway.  
“What is it?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.  
“Stay back,” Taylor warned, well aware of who was on the other side of the door.  
He paused only to make sure Ezra had hidden before unlocking the door and pulling it open.  
“Jordan Hanson,” the soldier already looked annoyed at having to wait.  
“Yes. 예,” Taylor confirmed, eyeing the clipboard in his hand.  
“신분증,” he demanded.  
Taylor reached for the group of lanyards kept close to the front door. He quickly found his and passed it over.  
A quick look over the soldier’s shoulder saw one more outside the door and another group of three waiting by the military truck. Taylor had to wonder why the sound of the truck hadn’t woken him but figured it was probably why Ezra had been up.  
“You are missing child,” the soldier pulled his attention back.  
“Sorry?” Taylor wasn’t sure what he meant.  
“Your child die yesterday. We no have him.”  
“Sorry yes. Viggo,” Taylor realized, “we brought him home. We buried him.”  
“신분증,” he demanded again, holding out a hand.  
Taylor took a deep breath in order to stay calm as he went through the lanyards again, searching for Viggo’s. It was close to the bottom.  
“서두르다,” the soldier was getting agitated.  
“I have it,” Taylor assured, still fighting the sleep in his eyes as he finally handed it over, “Viggo Moriah Hanson.”  
The soldier compared the ID to the list on his clipboard, Taylor watching apprehensively. The last thing he needed was for them to search the house for Viggo’s body. They couldn’t have soldiers in the house.  
After some of the longest few minutes of Taylor’s life, the soldier simply turned and walked away. Taylor was about to protest that he’d taken Viggo’s lanyard but he forcibly stopped himself. Natalie’s voice was in his head reminding him not to cause trouble.   
He waited by the door to make sure they weren’t going to coming back, only closing it once the truck had moved on down the street.   
“What happened?” Natalie had appeared behind him, River and Ezra now emerging from the hall.  
“They wanted to confirm we had Viggo,” Taylor locked all the bolts again, “they took his lanyard.”  
Natalie didn’t reply to that. She’d hoped they could keep it as a memento but knew she’d much rather have something other than a symbol of their repression to look back on. Her hopes currently rested with Taylor being able to get the photos from her phone printed.  
“Go get yourselves some breakfast, we don’t need to wake anyone else up,” Natalie told her sons as Taylor came back from the door.  
He walked straight past and headed for the basement. Opening the door and heading down, the sight of it empty told him that Zac had heard the soldiers. He made his way over to the left wall and knocked.  
The sound of rustling was heard from behind the wall.  
“All clear!” Taylor called out, stepping back.  
The wall shifted and Zac groggily emerged with Lucille in his arms. Once Taylor saw they were okay he turned to leave.  
“What was that about?” Zac asked him as he headed for the stairs.  
“They were asking about Viggo. It’s sorted,” Taylor replied without stopping.  
By the time he got back upstairs both Ezra and River had a bowl of cereal each and he could tell that Natalie was debating having any. Their supplies were running low already.  
“Have my share,” he made her jump at the sound of his voice, “I’m not hungry.”  
“Are you sure?” she looked worried.  
“I’m not going anywhere today, I’ll refuel the generator and go through the shed,” he assured, “I won’t need much energy for that.”  
“Maybe I shouldn’t anyway,” she closed the cupboard before she could change her mind, “our rations are already being cut for Junia’s medication.”  
Taylor winced at that before taking a seat at the table beside River.  
“Did you sleep okay last night?” he checked, knowing he’d passed out early and been oblivious to anything until the knock on the door.  
River nodded, his mouth still full of cereal.  
“What if we go over to Grogan?” Ezra suggested, knowing what his parents had been talking about, “we could help out for the day and bring some food home with us.”  
“That’s not a bad idea,” Natalie looked to her husband.  
“There’s no guarantee they’ll have plenty,” Taylor warned, “we don’t know how many people they’ve had to feed this week.”  
“We can only try,” Natalie pointed out.  
Ezra had only eaten half of his breakfast but he set the spoon in his bowl and pushed it toward his father.   
“Even if we don’t get anything, we can help some other people,” he shrugged.  
Taylor stared him down for a moment, wondering where this had come from.   
“Tay? You okay?” Natalie snapped him out of it.  
“Yeah, yeah,” he rubbed his face, “but if we want to go we’d better start getting ready. It’s a long walk.”  
“I’ll go,” River agreed right away.  
“I’ll go and ask the girls,” Natalie nodded to herself, “if they don’t want to go I’ll stay home with them. Maybe you could take Shepherd and Abe and we could have a girls’ day in.”  
“With Uncle Zac?” Ezra smirked.

_“Well he’s telling us this and he’s telling us that, changes it every day. Says it doesn’t matter…”_


	9. Surrender

_“What else can we say to the masses that isn’t depressing…”  
“It’s getting harder, isn’t it?”  
“I think the easiest way to stay positive is to talk about music. We do have a pretty good collection to share, I think. Despite how much greater it could have been if we had access to our laptops or iPods.”  
“Sticking with manual music does have its downsides, but you know I think what we’ve each brought to the table here just shows us what music has had the greatest effect on us as people and as musicians. Not including the records we’ve stolen from friends or family members along the way, some of these artists or releases are ones that we – in the grand old age before digital media – went into a store and bought for ourselves.”  
“And even after the digital era to be honest, I still bought a lot of these.”  
“I did too. I guess we’re both a bit old school.”  
“I think what we should do is maybe talk more about these artists and… not so much the effect the music has had on us – everyone out there knows these songs and were maybe affected by them in a different way – but talk about how they’ve influenced us and our art and our passion. All of these artists had the drive to be great and they made it happen.”  
“This one is probably a good place to start.”  
“I chose Cheap Trick for the next song because I got to know those guys pretty well over the course of my own career, and God rest their souls the world is a lot worse off for not having them in it. I met them a very long time ago and stayed in contact, and even got to work with them a few times. They were originally from Rockford, Illinois…”  
“Sounds like the best place to start a band, you have to admit.”  
“Right? They started there in the 70’s, long before I was even born. I think they broke in Japan first, as many of us have had success over there alike.”  
“Sure.”  
“Before breaking here at home in… it must have been the late 70’s I think?”  
“I’m not sure but I’d probably bet on it. Or early 80’s.”  
“I know their ‘comeback’ was in the late 80’s. Their bigger songs included ones like _I Want You To Want Me, Dream Police _and_ Surrender _. I think between the members they may have had the largest collection of vintage and collectible guitars I’ve ever heard of.”  
“Oh right I remember that.”  
“Yeah and there were some awesome guitars in there I couldn’t begin to describe. I got to see quite a lot of them, and actually… now I’m wondering what might have happened to them. A lot were in storage so they might not have been found yet.”  
“They were pretty swift at taking us out when the laws came in.”  
“Yeah. So hopefully someday not too far away they’ll see the light of day again. Even without their owners.”  
“So which song did you pick from Cheap Trick?”  
“I chose _Surrender _just because it’s fun and we need a little fun I guess.”  
“If you wanted fun I have some really random shit we could throw on.”  
“Maybe after this. Although we’re starting to run out of time before we need to get home in order to survive tomorrow.”  
“I’ll see what I can find in the song break.”  
“Here’s Cheap Trick with _Surrender _.”_

 _“Mother told me yes she told me that I’d meet girls like you. She also told me stay away you’ll never know what you’ll catch…”_  
“Don’t pull him too hard,” Taylor insisted, unsure if forgoing the pulling of the cart had been such a great idea.  
Abraham was giggling to himself as he sat in it, being pulled along by Shepherd and River. Ezra walked along the opposite side to make sure he didn’t fall out.  
The cart wasn’t especially big but it was big enough for them to carry anything too heavy. Taylor already regretted not taking it with him when he’d bartered for the fuel the other day. His hands were still aching from the handles of the bottles, but he just as soon figured the shovelling the day before hadn’t helped either.  
It was a long walk out to the fields, but before they actually made it there a familiar face met them on the road. It was a young woman they’d met at the charity long before.  
“Taylor!” she called to him long before he got her, causing him to wave back.  
She met them halfway. As she got closer, the look on her face worried him enough to pull their small procession to a halt.  
“What’s wrong?” he asked, stepping ahead of the boys.  
“You can’t go up there,” she warned, “Josh sent me to warn you. I’ve been waiting out here for days.”  
“Days?” Ezra frowned.  
“What’s going on? Did something happen?” Taylor was more worried about his friends working the charity now.  
“They’re looking for you. They have soldiers posted at all the local charities. They know musicians in hiding are helping some out and they’re trying to find them that way.”  
“Oh…” River’s eyes went to his father.  
“They heard it on the radio,” Shepherd put it together.  
“Is Josh okay?” Taylor thought to ask first.  
“He’s fine, but he doesn’t know how long they’ll be there. They’re scaring away the people he’s trying to help.”  
“Like us,” River pointed out.  
“He said to tell you he’s happy to take a heap of food home at the end of the day and bring some over if you need it?”  
“That would be great, thank you,” Taylor assured, “but I don’t want to put him in any more danger than I already have. We can find another way.”  
“But Dad we’re nearly out of food,” Ezra spoke up, “that was kind of the point of coming here.”  
“It’s no bother,” she insisted, “the soldiers leave when the volunteers do.”  
“We could go without you?” Shepherd suggested.  
“No. That’s not happening,” Taylor put his foot down, “you’re not going off on your own, especially when soldiers are around.”  
“But you let me and Penny do it all the time,” Ezra cut in, “we always go to school on our own.”  
“That’s different,” Taylor scorned, “that’s for school, and there are always people around.”  
“There’ll be people here too.”  
“We can’t risk it,” Taylor was already trying to stay calm, “what if we chose a meeting point where he could come to without risking coming to the house?”  
“I could tell him,” she shrugged.  
“We’ll do that then,” Taylor jumped on, “send him my apologies but I’ll meet him at the park between our houses at dusk.”  
She nodded and without another word turned to leave.  
“I still think we could have helped,” Ezra muttered as River worked to turn the cart around.  
“It’s not worth it,” Taylor caught it.  
“It’s not worth it to eat?”  
“Not in this case, no.”  
In a more somber mood, the quintet headed home empty handed.

 _“Mommy’s alright, Daddy’s alright, they just seem a little weird. Surrender, surrender, but don’t give yourself away…”_  
“What happened?” Kate looked up from where Junia was painting her nails as River brought Abraham inside and Shepherd closed the door behind them.  
“We couldn’t go,” River replied first.  
“It was too dangerous,” Shepherd added.  
“Where’s your Uncle?”  
“Taking the cart around back and then I think he wants to work in the shed.”  
Kate blew on her nails, stopping Junia before she could start on the other hand so she could get up and head for the back door. She could see Penny still by Viggo’s gravesite drawing gently in the sand.  
“Penny?!” she called out, already hearing the wheels of the cart getting closer, “come back inside!”  
Penny got to her feet and brushed herself off, pausing as she sighted her father and brother bringing the cart around. She debating staying to ask why they were back early but instead opted to do as suggested and keep out of the way. She headed for the door and Kate made short eye contact with Taylor before closing it behind her.  
“Go wake your Mom,” Kate gave Penny a pat on the back.  
Taylor took a moment to register that the shed door was open, but he soon heard noise from inside it. Knowing it had to be a family member because of Penny’s presence he made for the door.  
“What are you doing?” he asked, Zac freezing in a crouch once he realized he’d been caught.  
“You said you needed something to barter for more fuel, right?” he checked, “that the guy wants to build something. I thought I’d take a look while you were gone.”  
“These aren’t your tools,” Taylor remained in the doorway, his shadow only making it harder for Zac to see.  
“I’m trying to help, Tay.”  
There was an awkward pause with an equally awkward silence before Taylor finally stepped out of the light. Zac breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn’t going to take it further before backing out of the shed.  
“What are you doing home so early?” he asked, watching as Ezra put the cart away and Taylor began to check the levels on the generator, “we thought you’d be gone all day.”  
“There were soldiers at the gardens, looking for musicians.”  
Zac paused again with a frown.  
“How does that even make sense?” he had to ask, “why of all places…”  
“Because they talked about charity on the radio this week,” Ezra offered, his job done, “so they’re watching the charities in case anyone shows up to help out.”  
“They’re watching charities? All of them?!”  
“I don’t know if it’s all of them but I doubt they’d concentrate on this one,” Taylor pointed out, “hand me one of those bottles.”  
Ezra ducked into the shed to fetch one.  
“Does this mean they’re onto us?” Zac was starting to fret, “do we need to evacuate? How do we tell Ike?”  
“If they were onto us they’d be breaking that door down. I don’t see anyone doing that,” Taylor looked him in the eye, “we’re fine. Like you said, we just need to lay low.”  
“So what about Wednesday?”  
Taylor heaved a sigh before being distracted as Ezra returned. Without another word he started to fill the tank.  
“What about Wednesday, Tay?” Zac repeated, needing an answer.  
“I don’t know,” Taylor replied between his teeth, “I need to talk to Rob. In order to do that, I have to see him.”  
Zac rubbed his face before stepping past Ezra to go back into the shed and continue what he’d been doing. Ezra could feel the tension and made sure to stay out of the way.  
“Thanks,” Taylor handed him back the bottle when he was done, giving him something to do by returning it to the shed.  
Taylor did one last check over before setting the generator going. After about five seconds of sputtering he saw the back house light come on, signalling that it was working.

 _“Whatever happened to all this season’s losers of the year? Every time I got to thinking where’d they disappear? And when I woke up Mom and Dad were rolling on the couch, rolling in numbers rock and rollin’, got my KISS records out…”_  
“Any idea what this guy wants to build?” Zac asked as he helped lay prospective tools out on the bench that just the day before had been where Viggo lay.  
“The way he was talking about it I’m not sure that I want to know,” Taylor shook his head, “he was kinda… seedy.”  
“Should we be offering these up then?” Zac raised a brow.  
“Only if we really need the fuel, and I completely forgot to ask Ike if he knows of anywhere else we could go instead.”  
“What did he say last time this came up?” Zac tried to remember, “wasn’t he running low then?”  
“Yes but he hadn’t syphoned his own cars I don’t think. He’d only just gotten the generator working properly.”  
“That’s right.”  
“I might see him tomorrow. I’m thinking of taking the kids to school myself.”  
Zac paused, unsure of how to react at first.  
“Is that a good idea?” he had to caution.  
“I want to see it for myself.”  
“See what for yourself? You were just there on Friday.”  
Taylor quickly worked to repress the memory, unable to focus while he was thinking of that afternoon. Once he’d found a calm center he took a deep breath.  
“I know that it was a freak of nature and not something that could have been stopped,” he reasoned, “but now anytime I watch my kids leave this house I’m going to be wondering if they’ll ever come back again.”  
Zac paused again, not knowing what to say. He couldn’t think of anything at all that he’d want to hear if he were in his brother’s position.  
Knowing his predicament Taylor picked up a hatchet from the table.  
“I think we need to keep the basics for ourselves just in case,” he changed the subject, “we’ll need to start chopping trees for winter after all.”  
“Yeah,” Zac took the bait, “I agree.”  
Taylor offered him a forced smile before grabbing a pail to fill with the tools they planned to keep. In the end most of what they figured they could barter were either specialty tools or ones that needed electricity to run in the first place.  
“I have to go meet Josh soon,” Taylor wiped his hands off when they were done, “mind putting these away for me? I’ll fill the cart with what’s leftover when I get back.”  
“Sure,” Zac readily agreed, starting right away.


	10. House Of Fun

_“Staying on the topic of fun music, I think I have the best song for this moment.”  
“And it’s one you haven’t already used in a previous show?”  
“I haven’t, but I can’t promise I won’t use it again after today.”  
“What is it?”  
“It’s _House Of Fun _by Madness.”  
“Oh!”  
“They’re a band out of London, for anyone that doesn’t know. Again from the 70’s or 80’s. They had a lot more success in the UK than here, I’ll admit. But I still think these guys were great.”  
“No argument here.”  
“So… random facts about this band… I think it was in the early 80’s they were actually offered a TV show that Ben Elton was writing for them which must have been a pretty big deal for the time.”  
“Did you ever get offered a TV show?”  
“I think it might have been a ‘thing’ of the mid-noughties to be honest. I think everyone did at some stage.”  
“I know that we sure did.”  
“What happened with that?”  
“Creative differences I guess? They wanted to be creative and we wanted reality.”  
“Wait, you’re saying reality TV isn’t reality?”  
“It’s a brave new world.”  
“Well it is now, and I guess that’s one good thing to come of it. No more reality TV.”  
“No more TV at all really.”  
“Oh there is TV, I know a few people who do still have one set up and have managed to find the singular channel that still broadcasts.”  
“Does it broadcast in English?”  
“Maybe not. They do seem to broadcast a few important announcements and such though which makes me wonder how effective they think those notices actually are considering they cut off the majority of our electricity.”  
“That’s a decent observation.”  
“So the only way most of us have been getting community notices, including those important ones from the military about new guidelines and laws and such, have been either word of mouth among friends or places that we all have to go like the food trucks.”  
“Or taking the kids to school, they have the notices there most of the time.”  
“Yeah but not everyone has kids of school age either. What about the pensioners who rarely come out of their homes anymore? Those suffering anxiety or PTSD because of the war who physically can’t leave their homes?”  
“It seems like you’re leading us back to the radio here.”  
“I do think radio would be a good way. It’s tried and true. Now I wonder if maybe we shouldn’t be collecting such notices that we can broadcast to the masses.”  
“We have already, we’ve already talked about the religious treaty today and I know we’ve mentioned things in the past…”  
“Yes, but all of them. We were saying earlier how we didn’t have community notices, so let’s give the people community notices.”  
“There’s a major problem with doing that though.”  
“Which is what?”  
“…You don’t realize the problem with doing that?”  
“No, I don’t see one right now.”  
“Run the song.”  
“What?”  
“Run the song, we need to talk off air.”_

 _“Good morning Miss. Can I help you son? Sixteen today and up for fun. I’m a big boy now or so they say so if you serve I’ll be on my way…”_  
“I don’t like this,” Natalie was shaking her head.  
“You don’t have to like it,” Taylor was blunt, “but I’m taking them.”  
“What if someone recognized you on Friday?” she pointed out, “what if the guards are waiting for you? Did you think of that?”  
He rolled his eyes as he pulled his boots on.  
“What if the kids have to watch them drag you away?” she kept digging, “what then? How would I ever know what happened to you?”  
Taylor finished what he was doing and stopped to think. The answer was somewhat obvious, the school would report to her when she went to collect them again.  
“Are you aware that the reward has gone up?” her brow rose, “last I saw it was nine million won.”  
“ _Nine million_?” Taylor finally turned in surprise, “that would have to be what… ten thousand dollars?”  
“It’s a lot,” Natalie agreed, “they want people to give up their neighbors, and at the rate everything is going around here people are going to start being hungry enough to betray anybody. No one even knows how long the food supplies are going to last, we don’t even know where they’re coming from.”  
“It would have to be somewhere central,” Taylor hadn’t thought about it in a while.  
“Taylor that’s not the point!”  
“I know, I know,” he grumbled, getting to his feet.  
“I’ve tried so hard to keep a low profile at that school, to make sure no one took a second glance at me or at the kids,” she shook her head, “don’t throw that away.”  
“I’m not going to parade around in front of everyone and shout ‘hi I’m the guy that wrote _Mmmbop_ ’!” he scorned, “how stupid do you think I am?!”  
Natalie held back from answering that honestly, knowing already that it would only rile him up more.  
“People are going to be a lot more concerned with that tornado than they will be recognizing a random,” he tried to reassure, “we don’t know if they’re even going to hold school until we get there.”  
“Then I should go in case they need to talk to each parent,” Natalie insisted, “you can pick them up this afternoon on your way home.”  
“I don’t know what time I’ll finish yet,” he frowned, “there’s no guarantee it’ll all be done by home time.”  
“Taylor Hanson I swear to God if you are the second Hanson to not come back from that school alive-“  
“Nothing is going to happen!” he sat on the bed again, closer to her this time so he could look her in the eye, “especially after Viggo, there is nothing I would do to endanger any of us. I’m not going anywhere. I am not going to leave you.”  
“You can’t guarantee that,” Natalie’s eyes were welling up, “you can’t promise anything. It could all change tomorrow.”  
“It could,” Taylor agreed, “but I refuse to continue living in fear. It’s not healthy, and it’s not setting an example. I’m not going to hide forever, I need to be able to be out there living among everybody.”  
“You don’t think Zac wants that too?” she couldn’t help herself, “you don’t think he wants to be out there helping people too? You and Isaac have already been lucky enough. We shouldn’t be pushing that luck.”  
“I don’t think it’s luck at all, I think it’s been hard work,” Taylor disagreed.  
“And what if Isaac’s there?”  
Taylor had to hesitate at that. He hadn’t even thought of what would happen if his brother decided to take his boys to school that morning too.  
“Please just let me go,” she was begging now, “you can take them tomorrow if everything’s normal. But with everything happening in the last few days, between the tornado, between what happened with Josh and the soldiers coming after Viggo… it’s too much.”  
“Where’s your phone?” Taylor asked, already looking for it.  
Natalie’s heart sank, sure he was just going to ignore her now and go regardless. She pointed to the cell phone on her bedside table and he got up to retrieve it.  
“I’ll see what I can do at the printers today,” he made sure it had enough battery life left, “but don’t empty any frames just yet.”  
“Taylor…”  
“I need to leave early if I’m going to give them extra work to do,” he pointed out, “just be careful when you go.”  
Natalie breathed a sigh of relief.  
“Thank you,” she whispered, realizing she’d better hurry and get ready.  
Taylor left the room to get his equipment ready. 

_“Welcome to the house of fun, now I’ve come of age. Welcome to the lion’s den…”_  
“What are you doing here?” her eyes were wide.  
“Working,” Isaac replied with a shrug, “why… why do you look like that, what’s wrong? Did something else happen?”  
“No, no,” Natalie assured, taking a quick look around to make sure no one was paying attention, “your brother was going to come this morning instead and I barely managed to talk him out of it.”  
“Why would he?” Isaac frowned.  
“Why would you?” she countered, “you’re in just as much danger as he is!”  
“Like I said, working,” Isaac took a cautious look around as well, “our group got the call to come and help rebuild the classroom the tornado destroyed.”  
Natalie was caught off guard and felt her heart leap from her chest.  
“I’m sorry,” Isaac quickly put a hand on her shoulder, “I was kinda hoping you guys wouldn’t find out. But they want it fixed as soon as possible so they can keep running classes. They don’t have enough rooms to house the kids as it is.”  
“It’s okay, I understand,” she assured, “it needs to be done.”  
“How is everyone?” Isaac asked quickly, knowing he was expected elsewhere, “is Junia any better?”  
“She is, she has today as her last of reprieve and she’ll be back at school tomorrow. She’s not too steady on her feet yet but her fever has broken.”  
“Oh good.”  
“Yeah. The drugs worked, thankfully. Now we just have to deal with less food for the week.”  
“If you guys need some food-“  
“Thanks but, we got some from the Grogans over the weekend as well,” Natalie assured, “I think Tay did mean to ask you about some fuel though.”  
“Right…”  
“He said you might know of somewhere to get some. Our generator is running through it ridiculously fast and he found someone to barter with but we don’t know if we can get more.”  
“Well, I do have a healthy supply,” Isaac admitted, “but I’ve been bartering it myself for other things.”  
“Oh sorry.”  
“No, if you need some, you can have it,” Isaac reassured her, “just don’t tell anyone else that I have it. I’ve been sharing with Jess and Joe but no one else.”  
“That’s fair,” Natalie agreed, “I’ll let him know.”  
Isaac looked back over his shoulder again when he heard his name being called.  
“You’d better get back to work, Clarke,” Natalie smiled.  
“Sorry. I’ll be here as long as it takes to fix the classroom if you need anything,” he started to back away.  
“Thank you!” she called after him as he disappeared into the crowd.

 _“I’m sorry son but we don’t stock party gimmicks in this shop. Try the House of Fun, it’s quicker if you run…”_  
“Can you do that?” Taylor was hopeful, “I wasn’t sure because so many phones used different cords and the Bluetooth isn’t working anymore…”  
“It should be easy enough, I’ve done it for a few people,” his printer considered, looking Natalie’s phone over.  
“How long?”  
“I’ll add it to your order, send it off this afternoon… you should have them by close of business today.”  
“Thank you, you’re incredible!” Taylor was grateful, knowing how much it would mean to his wife, “I’ll find you something nice for your birthday I swear.”  
The man smirked and set the order aside as Taylor turned to leave. He had to stop short when an elder woman put herself in his way.  
“Do I know you?” her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked up at him.  
He took a moment to work out if she looked familiar or not.  
“I don’t believe so,” he couldn’t be sure, “sorry.”  
“Your voice, and your face. They are familiar,” she shook her head, “what’s your name?”  
“His name’s Jordan,” the printer supplied, “come on Mrs. Goodall I have your prints ready for you.”  
Taylor skirted around her as she continued to stare. When he was finally able to leave the store he had to stop and take a breath.  
He wasn’t sure if that had been a close encounter or not, but it had sure felt like it.   
He checked his watch to make sure he was running on time before pulling a map from his satchel to work out where his next job was. Seeing that it wasn’t far away he decided on a slight detour and took a scenic walk down the river to try and calm down.  
The last week had taken a lot out of him, and he knew the trials were far from over just yet.


	11. Jungle

_“Okay… so we probably won’t be running community notices all that much after all.”  
“I didn’t think it was a great idea, but we can still remind people in general that important stuff is coming up.”  
“And remind people to take care to obey the new laws our gracious hosts have supplied us with.”  
“Of course.”  
“Maybe we should talk about these laws.”  
“Maybe it’s getting late and we really shouldn’t. This could all catch up with us someday.”  
“Oh if we get caught we are definitely dead, I just think we should make it worth it for when the time does come.”  
“I don’t know that I want to say ‘when’ when it comes to that.”  
“Let’s face it, there’s a higher probability of us eventually being caught than there is of us not, you know? I’ve been through those stages of grief and I’ve decided to accept that it will come to that. Our fates were sealed from the moment the bombs dropped and we collectively realized as a nation that we were fucked to the highest degree. Now I am willing to fight it, and you’d better believe that I will go down swinging, but I’m okay with it being a 90% probability that I will go down.”  
“Really.”  
“Okay is probably the wrong word. I’m not okay with it but it’s an acceptance I’ve had to make purely to stay sane.”  
“Alright well, sanity is a good reason I’ll give you that.”  
“I thought so.”  
“There’s certainly plenty of insanity going on. Staying sane right now is already hard enough. Never mind trying to keep yourself composed for the sake of other people.”  
“I think the trick with that is to surround yourself with people who already know the worst of you, who already know when you need to just take a moment and chill out. I know the support I’ve had from the people I love has been incredible but you also need to be willing to give that out as well. As we keep saying – we are all in this together. We’re all stuck in this hellhole and we have to play with what we’ve been dealt. So we gotta help each other as much as we can, and we also need to be conscious of our own needs and our own limits and to be aware of when they’re being pushed too far.”  
“Excluding the systematic authoritarian oppression.”  
“Well there’s always a catch.”  
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to hold myself back from outright attacking some of those people, but we also need to remember that they are just doing their jobs and a lot of them aren’t taking pleasure in it at all. Many of them are far, far away from their lives and their families and I don’t believe they have any way of contacting them either.”  
“The Nazis at Auschwitz were just doing their jobs.”  
“And that’s a fair point, but a lot of them were secretly working against the regime as well. I don’t doubt that there are soldiers here doing the same thing. I can confirm on air right now that I don’t know of any that are, but I certainly like the idea.”  
“I guess that’s possible…”  
“I’ve found if you take the time to talk to some of them, you’ll realize that they are just like us. Considering they’re living in this hellhole right alongside us, they have a lot of the same limitations that we do. We’re just not used to them. But some of them are good people and are happy to talk to you and answer questions if you can only get beyond the language barrier.”  
“I know they’re making headway with teaching the language in schools so if you need help with that ask a random kid. They probably know more than you will.”  
“I know my kids have taught me a lot already. More than I thought I’d pick up this soon. It really does make it a lot easier to converse even on a professional level or just to clear up misunderstandings they may have made.”  
“On that note, I think we should play some music. I doubt people are risking turning their radios on just to hear us bicker.”  
“I guess we should. Do you have another one lined up or…?”  
“You can go ahead if you’re ready.”  
“I’ve got a bit of an angry one I guess, but I think it’s also kind of fitting to the situation. Also pulling us back from the 80’s for a while.”  
“There’s nothing wrong with the 80’s.”  
“There isn’t but we need to keep the variety going or we’ll lose the whole three listeners that we have.”  
“I’m sure those listeners have great taste.”  
“Undoubtedly. Here’s the X Ambassadors with _Jungle _.”_

 _“Well it’s too long living in the same old lives, I feel too cold to live too young to die. Will you walk the line like it’s there to choose, just forget the wit it’s the best to use…”_  
Taylor kept his eyes open at a slit just to make sure no one was coming. He sat outside the printers on the concrete path, one earbud subtly slid into his right ear so that he could listen to his portable radio. Right now he was taking any chance to listen to any music that he could.  
He was stuck thinking about what Natalie had said about Zac that morning, and about how he hadn’t been granted the freedoms that he and Isaac had. Zac couldn’t sit on the pavement outside a print shop like he was doing right now. The moment anyone saw that he didn’t have a lanyard the jig would be up. Not just for Zac either.  
The moment he saw a shadow to his left Taylor looked up.  
“Your job’s ready,” the printer informed him before going back inside.  
Taylor quickly hid the earbud again, switching the radio off under his jacket before pulling himself up. His back was still hurting from the weekend and it reminded him that he needed to at least try and work out again. At least a little. Spending most of his time doing odd but small chores wasn’t helping him keep physically fit, and who knew when he might need to be now.  
He was glad to see that there was still no one else in the store. The man only had a few regular customers these days, scattered with people wanting mementos of loved ones lost to the war. The sudden loss of a lot of technology meant a somewhat surprising rise in people wanting photos printed again but Taylor knew it was still barely enough for this guy to make a living with.  
However, they were all in the same boat.  
“How did they go?” he asked a little apprehensively, “one of these clients is picky as hell.”  
“They came out fine. If they have a problem they can come directly to me,” the printer insisted, readying some of the posters.  
Taylor’s eyes followed them as they moved. They looked fine to him but he wasn’t his client. The printer made sure all the larger ones were there before rolling them into three separate tubes – one for each of Taylor’s major clients for the previous week. The smaller orders went into a tote that Taylor swapped out every second week.  
“How about Natalie’s phone? How did the photos come out from that?” he was a lot more nervous about his personal request.  
“They came out fine. I’ve kept them separate in here,” he pulled a small pouch from the tote to show him, “there’s a little something else in there too.”  
“What do I owe you for them?” Taylor reached for his wallet.  
“Just the usual. That little something will be my payment for the personals.”  
“Are you sure?” Taylor frowned in surprise, “I can afford it this week, and I don’t want to put you out.”  
“You haven’t. You’ll see what I mean when you get home and open it.”  
Taylor paused, but nodded.  
“Alright,” he agreed, handing over his usual costs, “say hi to the family for me.”  
“I will.”  
“Oh and…” he frowned as he collected the tubes from the counter, “thanks for this morning. I just completely blanked and could have done something stupid.”  
“It’s no bother. Old Mrs. Goodall doesn’t have the best memory to begin with, I doubt she actually recognized you more than a passing face.”  
“Thanks anyway,” Taylor smiled as he turned to leave, “see you next week!”

 _“I lost my mind in the city of lights, in the backstreet buildings and the neon lights…”_  
Isaac stopped short as an announcement came over the megaphone. He didn’t catch all of it so quickly looked around for someone that had been closer.  
“That’s it for the day,” one of his workmates offered when he saw his predicament.  
“Great, my back is killing me,” he stood up straight from where he’d been levelling off a beam they were going to use for a new wall.  
“We’ll be back bright and early tomorrow,” the other man smirked, “don’t get too comfy tonight.”  
“I think ‘comfy’ in this case is just going to be laying flat on my stomach and getting my daughter to walk up and down my spine,” Isaac mused, “and then we can do it all over again tomorrow.”  
“말하지 마!” one of the guards spotted them and raised a baton.  
“We weren’t even-“ Isaac’s comrade began to protest but blew it off as he thought better.  
Isaac remained silent knowing they shouldn’t push their luck. He collected his personal things from the worksite before heading to the front of the school where he’d organized to meet his boys. The classes were even later out and Monroe appeared long before Everett did. Isaac had to admit that it was weird right off the bat seeing Monroe and Shepherd emerging without Viggo in tow. The three had become almost inseparable in the last few months.  
“Where’s the others?” he asked once Everett turned up, surprised that he hadn’t seen Natalie around yet.  
“Junia had to see the doctor for a check-up but she should be out soon,” Shepherd informed him, “I don’t know where Abe and River are.”  
“River usually goes to get Willa, right?” Isaac checked, not used to the school pickup at all.  
“Usually,” Shepherd agreed.  
“Alright well, just stay close until we find them,” Isaac was already worrying about losing them in the crowd, “I swear every time I come here there’s ten times more people.”  
“There might be,” Monroe agreed, “ they closed down the other center on the south side and brought those kids here.”  
“That’s really far to come for some people,” Isaac frowned.  
Monroe just shrugged.  
Thankfully Isaac was able to spot Natalie in the crowd not long after, just as he was sure a soldier was about to tell his group to move on. She had River and Willa with her but was heading in the opposite direction. Knowing he shouldn’t call out he sent Everett after her as they began to fight the crowd. Reporting back that she was simply fetching Junia, Isaac decided to take the group outside on his own.  
It was hard to make it look like they weren’t loitering but luckily Natalie didn’t take long.  
“How is she?” Isaac asked once they finally joined the group.  
“It went well, she’ll be expected at school for the rest of the week,” Natalie didn’t look particularly happy as she stroked Junia’s hair.  
“어서!” they heard some shouts from the school.  
“We’d better head off,” Natalie was obviously uncomfortable, “I’ll let Tay know about the fuel.”  
“Sure. I’m pretty sure we’ll be here all week working,” Isaac put a hand on Monroe’s shoulder.  
“Be careful,” Natalie was worried as she collected her group and began to head home.

 _“When I heard the thunder I could feel the rain, it’s the same to me just a different name…”_  
Taylor made it home before Natalie did, and Penny and Ezra weren’t far behind him.  
“How was work?” Zac came over to the dining table when he saw that his brother had what looked like a parcel.  
Considering no mail had been delivered in months he had to guess he’d picked it up somewhere that day.  
“It was work,” Taylor shrugged, struggling to unwrap the parcel at first.  
When he finally got it undone a few prints fell onto the table. Zac collected the ones that had fallen in front of him, smiling when he saw the pictures of Viggo in bright print.  
“These look great,” he handed them back.  
Taylor stared at them for a moment before being distracted by the kids making noise in the background. Able to focus again he worked to unwrap something else that had been in there.  
“What is it?” Zac asked curiously, leaning over the table.  
“I don’t know,” Taylor admitted, “he said it was going to be payment for getting the prints done.”  
“That’s weird.”  
“Hopefully it’s not some kind of blackmail or something,” he managed to drop the parcel again but this time it broke open.  
When he pulled the paper away from it, he couldn’t help but smirk. He held the cassette up for Zac to see.  
“Okay,” his brow rose, “that’s different.”  
“I think I know what he wants,” Taylor set it on the table before clearing the paper up.  
Zac took hold of it to look it over.  
“Sam and Dave? Don’t we have this somewhere?”  
“Maybe Ike does, but I didn’t,” Taylor grabbed it off him to go and hide it, “until now.”

_“Won’t you follow me into the jungle?”_


	12. You Shook Me All Night Long

_“Well listeners, our show is slowly coming to an end.”  
“It’s very sad.”  
“But we will return with new or not-so-new music, and I’m sure more grumbling about the state of the world.”  
“Unless something drastically changes between now and then.”  
“Who knows? But I think we have time for maybe two more songs.”  
“We could just go all night, we are the ones who get to decide how long this show is.”  
“We could, but we might not be welcome at home this long after curfew.”  
“Also a point.”  
“I probably shouldn’t have said that we’re out after curfew either but I’m sure people have caught onto when this show is actually live versus when it isn’t by now.”  
“Or when it’s pre-recorded.”  
“Yes, exactly.”  
“What can we say about this next band, my good friend?”  
“Not enough, not enough. They’re from Australia, and once again we’ve reverted back to the 70’s/80’s hole we just said we were going to forcefully drag ourselves out of.”  
“With reason though.”  
“Oh with great reason. This song, according to the record I have, came out in 1980 so right on the border.”  
“But it was re-released later.”  
“Well if the later version was any different, we only have the original here. Fair warning.”  
“I think there’s actually a few different incarnations of this song but the original is always the best.”  
“I don’t know about that.”  
“Well in the greater rules of rock and or roll, a better cover is pretty rare.”  
“I can agree with that I guess, and if we were to look at the higher end of the spectrum of songs that had been covered by other musicians I’d have to say this would be up there.”  
“Way, way up there. I know I’ve done it.”  
“I hadn’t but we did do some of their other stuff.”  
“I think covering one of these songs was almost a prerequisite of becoming a rock band at some stage. If you couldn’t do these guys justice you weren’t worth shit on stage.”  
“And we always want to end the show with a bit of classic rock’n’roll. We do still have more coming up, but for now… here’s ACDC. You’re listening to Radio One.”_

_“She was a fast machine she kept her motor clean she was the best damn woman I had ever seen, she had the sightless eyes telling me no lies, knocking me out with those American thighs…”_  
Natalie almost immediately broke down in tears. She had to set the photos out on the bed so that she wouldn’t get them wet, and Taylor quickly found a box of tissues for her.  
“These are great,” she had to chuckle through the tears as she wiped her eyes.  
“I thought they came out really well,” he took a seat on the bed beside her, “for being off the cell phone the quality isn’t that bad.”  
“Better than nothing that’s for sure.”  
He waited patiently as she composed herself before taking some time to look them over properly. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with them yet and couldn’t immediately decide on one that she would want framed, but she was content for now with just seeing her son’s smiling face again.  
When she hadn’t moved for a while Taylor shuffled himself further onto the bed and put an arm around her. The act made Natalie well up again and she was suddenly glad that River was back to sleeping in his own bed again. She should have the whole night to recover.  
Taylor let her cry, taking deep breaths himself. He’d purposely kept the photos hidden from her until now so that she could openly react accordingly. She was already very conscious of how she was acting around the kids and even Kate and Zac this past week.  
He held her until she was ready to sit up again, by which time she’d well and truly worn herself out.  
“We need to do something about the grave,” was the first thing she said after nearly an hour’s worth of silence as she reached for more tissues.  
“What are you thinking?” Taylor’s voice came out surprisingly stoic for how he felt on the inside.  
“I don’t know,” she admitted as he fell down onto his side and got comfortable, “but we need something. I know the kids made a cross but for one, we don’t know how long that’s going to last, and two we don’t even know if that will be considered a religious symbol and we could get in trouble for it.”  
“I see what you mean,” Taylor was trying to think.  
“Do we even know anyone that can work with stone?”  
“Someone would have to know someone,” he shrugged, “we just have to find them, and hope they don’t charge as much as they used to.”  
“I can ask around at the school this week.”  
“Maybe one of the guys Ike is working with,” Taylor suddenly thought out loud, “if anyone knows anything about building anything…”  
“I thought they were just random people chosen from a pool at the induction?” Natalie reminded him, “they might not know anything.”  
“But they’d have to get all their tools and supplies from people that probably would. We’d just need to send the word out. Besides, we aren’t the only people who lost someone that day. Others probably have the same idea already.”  
“Unless they were taken to the mass grave,” Natalie internally shuddered, “could you imagine what would have happened if River hadn’t found him? We would never have seen him again. We’d never know for sure.”  
“I’m sure plenty of people are in that boat,” Taylor reasoned, “and there’d be others who didn’t have a choice about the grave because they just didn’t get there first.”  
“I don’t think many people did. Everett took us the back way in. We weren’t supposed to be there,” Natalie reminded.  
“And I’ll always be grateful for that,” he assured.  
Natalie paused, looking down at him. He just looked like he didn’t know what else to say.  
“Are you okay?” she asked him suddenly.  
“What do you mean?” he frowned, looking up.  
“You haven’t really… said anything or done anything,” she shrugged, not wanting to outright point out that he hadn’t cried yet, “you just haven’t really reacted at all.”  
“I’ve kept busy. We need to keep the train rolling,” he went on the defence, “what happens if I break down? Nothing gets done. Suddenly I’m letting eleven people down.”  
“You’re not busy right now.”  
“And what if I fall and I can’t get back up again?” Taylor’s brow rose, “what if this breaks me entirely? I can’t risk it. I need to push it aside and just… focus.”  
“How can you focus?”  
“Because I can’t not!” he insisted, “I have to focus on work, and I have to focus on keeping this family safe. Because right now there’s no one else that can.”  
When she didn’t know how to respond, he sat up again.  
“Where are you going?” she was instantly worried that he’d walk out.  
“I’m taking a shower so we don’t have to keep washing the bed too much,” he muttered, quickly getting undressed and grabbing for his pyjamas.  
Once he’d left the room Natalie collected the photos from the bed and set them on her bedside table where they were still in easy view.  
Maybe she’d try to talk to him again in a few days.

 _”Working double time on the seduction line she was one of a kind she’s just mine all mine, wanted no applause just another cause, made a meal out of me and came back for more…”_  
“Hey Clive!” Isaac tried to simultaneously keep his voice down while trying to get his colleague’s attention.  
The shorter man looked up from where he was setting a concrete base for a pillar.  
“Do you know of anyone that works with stone carving?” he asked, taking a quick look to make sure none of their supervisors were around.  
“Stone carving,” the man shook his head, “nope I don’t believe so.”  
“A nephew of mine is one of the ones who died here,” Isaac felt a lump form in his throat as he said it aloud but ignored it, “they were able to bury him at home but they need some kind of marker, even if it’s not like a proper gravestone.”  
Clive nodded to himself as he thought it over.  
“I know a few people who’ve looked for something like that themselves, I can ask around,” he offered, “don’t know if they ever found anything though.”  
“Any kind of lead would help at this point,” Isaac shrugged.  
“말하지 마!” came the inevitable order from a passing soldier as soon as Isaac got the last words out.  
“I’m not trying to backtalk or anything,” he assured, “but Clive and I need to talk in order to finish placing this wall. We can’t do it in silence. We’ll do it wrong.”  
“He’s right,” Clive backed him up, “we’re only beginners, we need to help each other figure this out.”  
“Less talking,” the soldier amended with a scowl, but he moved on regardless.  
Isaac breathed a sigh of relief, admittedly unsure of how that was going to play out to begin with. He was never sure if talking to them was going to end in cohesion or a beating.  
“Thanks,” he shot Clive a glance before getting back to hammering a right angle into place above a pencilled guide.  
“No problem. Like the guy on the radio says, we gotta stick together.”  
Isaac smirked at that but continued with his work.

 _”Had to cool me down to take another round, but now I’m back in the ring to take another swing. ‘Cause the walls were shaking, the earth was quaking, my mind was aching and we were making it and you shook me all night long…”_  
“Are we ready?” Natalie huffed a sigh, grabbing the lanyards from the nook by the front door and handing Taylor his.  
“Ready,” Taylor agreed, “cart’s waiting out front.”  
“Stay safe!” Kate called from the kitchen as she bounced Lucille on her hip.  
“You too!” Natalie called back as Taylor opened the door for her.  
They readied the cart and began down the road. There was a little while before sunset yet but they knew they wouldn’t be home before dark.   
“I think I’ve worked out what this reminds me of,” Natalie was fiddling with her scarf as they walked.  
“What?” he glanced across, focusing more on pulling the empty cart along.  
“I feel like a beggar. Like I know we aren’t actually begging for food though I know it’s going to feel like we are this week but…”  
“I know what you mean,” he agreed, “it’s not the same but it’s not entirely different either.”  
“I mean whether we starve or not is entirely in their hands. It just feels so wrong,” she frowned.  
“It’s just an adjustment, like anything else,” Taylor tried to brush over, “people were living like this a long time before we ever were.”  
“I know. It’s just… we didn’t earn this.”  
“No one did. Fate just dealt us a dud hand.”  
“That’s an understatement for this week if there ever was one.”  
Taylor smirked in agreement, keeping an eye on the road. A few familiar faces had joined them on the road by now and they could already hear shouting in the distance. The sound always filled him with dread and he was sure Natalie felt the same.   
The sun was just starting to set when they came across the smaller field where the truck was set up. Lines of people filtered in through the gates and the Hansons were relieved to see that the one they usually joined was today one of the shorter ones. As they joined the line Taylor caught sight of at least three odd people staring and subtly pulled his cap lower over his face and kept his head down.  
“Not again,” Natalie noticed the movement right away.  
“Let’s just keep to ourselves and get out of here as soon as we can,” Taylor insisted, not bothering to look up again.  
The line moved quickly as usual, but the shouting up ahead wasn’t waning. As they made it closer to the front of the line they could start to see the scuffles going on as people fought for food. Groups to both the left and right were refusing to leave the field and the soldiers were getting impatient. Mixed Korean and English shouts filled the air as rifles waved dangerously.  
Natalie slid her hand into Taylor’s nervously. This had always been the most harrowing part of their week but every time seemed to get a little worse.  
It had turned dark by the time they made it near the front of the line and Taylor was trying to ignore unsettling whispers to his right. The administrator finally called them forward and Taylor quickly removed his lanyard.  
“Hanson. Jordan and Natalie,” he offered right away.  
The older woman seemed to take her time going down the list, and Natalie squeezed his hand a little tighter. The fighting to their left sounded like it would soon turn violent.   
“Hanson…” the woman muttered as Taylor’s other fingers started tapping against his thigh impatiently.   
“I thought I recognized him,” they heard a whisper to their right and Taylor forced himself not to look in that direction.  
“You have less rations today,” the woman informed them.  
“Yes I know,” Taylor quickly confirmed, “it was for a doctor appointment.”  
“For a doctor.”  
“Yes,” Taylor reiterated.  
“Ten less portions.”  
“That’s fine, thank you,” Natalie agreed.  
“You have one less person in the house. One died.”  
“Yes,” Taylor gulped a little, willing himself not to react otherwise.  
“You have ten in household for seven days with ten less portions…”  
Natalie’s grip was only getting tighter as they heard the people to their right moving closer.  
“Two hundred portions,” the woman scratched them off the list and handed Taylor a plastic token.  
“Thank you,” he offered a smile before quickly pulling Natalie away to the left.  
“Hey!” a voice called from behind them, “I know you!”  
“Keep walking,” Natalie said between her teeth as they quickly headed for distribution.  
“Stop! Taylor!”  
Taylor froze when he heard his middle name being used. Natalie didn’t have time to react before sudden gunfire rang out from the distribution corner they’d been aiming for. Everyone automatically hit the ground as the hoard of people who’d been rushing at the back of the truck struggled to retreat without trampling each other. Taylor fell to a knee, shielding Natalie with his right arm as he kept one eye on what was going on. Two women were screaming and both a man and woman could be seen bleeding on the ground.  
“다시 서!” a soldier holding a rifle in the air yelled a warning, “you will approach slowly! One at a time only! 줄을 서다! “  
Taking advantage of the distraction, Taylor waited until a few people around him stood again before pulling Natalie up with him and hurrying to join the line. People simply skirted the wounded instead of rushing to help and Taylor felt sick to the stomach that he was willing to do the same. But there was already more than fighting over food on his mind. He had to get Natalie out of there in one piece.  
By the time the line moved enough for them to be at the front, soldiers had dragged the wounded away. Bloodstains sank into the dying grass patches but they were quickly covered in dust.  
Thanks to Taylor skipping the line by default they were only about tenth in line and were able to quickly pass over the token and fill their cart before being escorted to a side gate. Once outside Natalie took over pulling it so that Taylor could concentrate on warding off anyone that might try to steal it. Tonight people were too busy reeling from the deaths on the field to pay much attention to the Hansons.


	13. Rock You Like A Hurricane

_“This is it my friends, just one more song to go.”  
“Until next time.”  
“And we’re going to wrap it up with another song from the 70’s or 80’s because apparently that’s the theme of the night.”  
“If you can’t beat ‘em maybe? Whatever. We’re ending with a band out of Germany, and I think this might be one of those bands that people don’t really click when they play on the radio that this is the same band that played that song and that song and that song…”  
“They do have a very definitive sound but I see where you’re coming from because a lot of the songs that they released – and that made it big, especially in America – were very genre varietal. You’ve got _Still Loving You _and_ Wind Of Change _up against songs like_ No One Like You _and this one we’re about to play.”  
“I think they very recently just celebrated their 50th anniversary as a band. Can you imagine? I know we both made it to around half that before the Great Change but I don’t think I was ever alone when I constantly found it a surprise.”  
“Not at all. Music is definitely not something most people could take for granted in making a living out of, especially with the way things were going with streaming and whatnot. There are plenty of number one artists out there that were still flipping burgers to get by.”  
“I bet anyone who took up a trade is feeling pretty grateful for their forethought right about now.”  
“I certainly know some ex-musicians that are, but a few of us were able to expand on some other interests and hobbies as well to help ourselves get by.”  
“I think every musician had a backup in their mind already going into the business because we all knew how quickly and easily it could fail as a career.”  
“It sounds very pessimistic, doesn’t it? But I don’t see a lie anywhere.”  
“I don’t think anyone expected the musical apocalypse but hey, you work with what you’re dealt.”  
“As usual we’d like to take a very short moment of silence at the end of the show to honor our fallen musicians. Those that stood bravely until the end, those that are still out there in hiding like us. As we’ve often said before, music does live forever, and we both believe wholeheartedly that it will someday rise from the ashes once more and live on again. And those musicians that we lost in the most horrible of ways – they will live on through their work and through our memories and through our connections to their each one-of-a-kind sound.”  
“Amen.”  
“And after this moment of reflection, we will _Rock You Like A Hurricane _.”_

 _“It’s early morning, the sun comes out. Last night was shaking and pretty loud. My cat is purring, it scratches my skin, so what is wrong with another sin?”_  
Ezra and River helped Natalie and Taylor get the cart in through the back door so they could unload it directly into the kitchen and pantry.  
“What was the damage?” Kate asked right away, being careful to stand clear as they worked.  
“Ten less, which means we only have to fast for maybe three meals to make up for it,” Natalie tried to blow it off.  
“Zac and I will take the brunt of that,” Kate assured, “we won’t have any lunches or something.”  
“We’ll work out it, don’t worry,” Natalie insisted, “we’ve had worse.”  
“I still think I should go next time,” Ezra was grumbling as he threw River some sacks of rice to stack.  
“That’s going to be a ‘no’ for a while yet,” Taylor insisted.  
“Why?!”  
“Because it’s too dangerous. Just leave it.”  
Natalie wanted to intervene and say that he might have to go eventually, especially if Taylor continued to be recognized, but knew she’d be shot down and so didn’t bother. She’d have to talk to her husband about it later.  
After a very quick and late dinner, the kids were sent to bed and both Taylor and Natalie opted to retire early. It had been a harrowing night, but that seemed to be becoming a common occurrence. Still hearing Zac and Kate out in the living area talking, both lay awake in the dark for almost as long as they would have stayed awake anyway.  
“Isaac was going to ask around about a gravestone,” Natalie only realized at this point that she hadn’t told him.  
“Okay.”  
“I didn’t see him this afternoon but hopefully I will in the morning.”  
“Sounds good.”  
She chewed on her lip, wondering if she should test his feelings on the subject again or not. He didn’t seem as worried about what had happened at the field as she thought he usually would have been, and she didn’t know if that was a step forward or a step back. Was it just that he was getting used to the violence and unrest? Or was he just shutting everything out now completely?  
“Have you seen the woman that told you about the pharmacy again yet?”  
“No, why?” she was caught off guard, suddenly realizing that his eyes were open from the small moonlight glint they were giving off.  
“Maybe she’s a part of the resistance,” he suggested, “if she’s already keeping some big secrets for people. Maybe she’ll be our way in.”  
“What happened to wanting to keep our heads down?” Natalie was afraid to ask, “not causing trouble?”  
Taylor sighed to himself, purely to work out how to answer.  
“This isn’t going to last forever,” he began, “and when the day comes that we might have to fight, I want to be on the right side. I want to know that standing by and letting bullshit like tonight happen and not doing anything was worth it.”  
Natalie heard the venom in his tone and almost felt relieved. A reaction was what she’d been waiting for, even if it hadn’t been what she’d expected.  
“We need to do our part,” he insisted, “and I’d rather start sooner than later. Maybe I can use this anger for something good.”  
“You’re angry?” Natalie was a little surprised.  
“Of course I’m angry. I have a lot to be angry about.”  
“I’m not denying that, I just…”  
“You’re not?” he shifted a little and she lost his eyes to the dark.  
“No,” she admitted, “I’m just sad.”  
“You’re allowed to be sad.”  
“And you’re allowed to be angry,” she confirmed, “just don’t let it consume you. A lot of those people there tonight did, and look what happened.”  
“I won’t,” his voice started to fade, “and you guys will always come first, no matter what happens.”  
Natalie knew it wasn’t worth replying as his breathing started to heavy. She stayed awake to listen a little longer before falling asleep herself.

 _”My body is burning, it starts to shout, desire is coming, it breaks out loud. Lust is in cages ‘til storm breaks loose, just have to make it with someone I choose…”_  
“I might have a lead for you,” Isaac told Natalie once he was able to pull her aside after registration, “one of the guys I’ve been working with knows someone that might be able to help with a headstone. He did say a lot of people are after them though.”  
“We thought as much,” Natalie folded her arms, “but I guess it doesn’t really matter how long it takes, as long as it happens eventually.”  
“Great. Because I have no idea what kind of progress might have been made,” he couldn’t help but chuckle, “how did you guys go last night? Things were kind of rough out on our side but we got home before dark.”  
“We got out quick,” Natalie kept her voice down, “a couple of people got shot. We don’t know if they survived or not.”  
“Oh. What happened?”  
“Just an unruly crowd,” she mused, “but I think it’s upset Tay.”  
“How so?”  
“We were talking last night. I’ve been worried about how he hasn’t really reacted to Viggo’s death, but he mentioned that he was angry.”  
“I couldn’t blame him,” Isaac shrugged.  
“Me neither, but… I don’t know,” she looked worried, “I just don’t want it to come out maybe on Zac or Kate or by snapping at the kids. He spends a lot of time out on the road for work and he’s tired when he gets home and maybe he won’t be able to help himself.”  
“I’m sure he’d hate that you’re worrying about him,” Isaac reasoned, “but without something to use as a punching bag I don’t really see how he could vent without drawing attention.”  
“Maybe he needs a way to vent,” Natalie stared at the ground, thinking over her husband’s sudden renewed interest in the resistance.  
The thought made her take a quick look around to see if she could spot the translator.  
“Something wrong?” Isaac noticed the movement.  
“No, just looking for somebody,” Natalie didn’t see her, “I guess I’m just hoping that he comes home tonight instead of testing curfew again.”  
“You’d better turn the radio on just in case.”  
“당신!” Isaac turned to look behind him, his skin crawling when he realized the soldier was aiming for him, “너는 일에 늦었다! You are late!”  
“My start time is 8.30,” Isaac quickly checked his watch.  
“You’d better go,” Natalie insisted, quickly stepping away.  
Isaac was about to protest, but she was already gone.  
“Late!” the soldier was getting insistent.  
“Alright, alright,” Isaac relented, heading back outside to where his crew met up each morning to start their work.  
Clive wasn’t even there yet, but a few men had already started work without them.

 _“The night is calling, I have to go. The wolf is hungry, he runs the show. He’s licking his lips he’s ready to win, on the hunt tonight for love at first sting…”_  
Taylor’s eyes were drooping as he sat in the waiting room. It was getting late and this last job was running overtime, and he knew he wasn’t going to get a chance to eat anytime soon.  
But with ten less portions between already having to share with Zac and Kate it might have been a good thing. He just had to remember to add some of Josh’s fruit to his breakfast to make up for it.  
“Sorry for the wait Jordan,” he looked up as his client’s liaison returned, “Mr. Hartford is very happy with the prints and wonders if he could take some more of your time next week?”  
“Sure, what day suits him?” Taylor took the envelope he was offered as the bell on the door signalled someone else coming into the office space.  
“He’s aware that you don’t work Mondays, so how about Tuesday?”  
“Any preferred time?” he slid the envelope into his satchel and buckled it.  
“Won’t be a moment Mr. Henley,” the man assured his customer, “ah… Mr. Hartford has a meeting scheduled for 10am so any time after 11am should be fine.”  
Taylor quickly unbuckled the satchel again and grabbed his diary, sure he had something on that morning already. He quickly flicked through to the following week.  
“11am is doable,” he agreed, “I’ll mark it in.”  
“Great. Thank you,” the man shook his hand, “see you then Jordan. Excuse me Mr. Henley.”  
“You will,” Taylor agreed as he disappeared again.  
Taylor turned to leave, instantly noticing the odd look the customer was giving him. Shrugging it off he offered a short smile before walking past only to be grabbed by the arm. Resisting the urge to fight just in case, Taylor froze.  
“I don’t know who you are,” Henley spoke in a low voice, “but I know what you’re doing.”  
“I don’t follow,” Taylor frowned, “I’m a freelancer. I work for these guys on a custom basis.”  
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”  
Taylor was only more confused. If the man didn’t know who he was, he wasn’t sure why he’d been stopped.  
“I know your voice,” he amended, making it suddenly click, “and I’m not going to turn you in. But you need to be careful around the likes of these people. If any of them get a hint as to who you are they will take that reward money faster than you can even blink. Nothing but money and standing matters to them.”  
“I’m aware,” Taylor could feel goose bumps starting to run up his arms, still unsettled by the man’s grip, “but I still have to feed my family.”  
Henley’s eyes went to the hall when they heard footsteps but they didn’t come into the foyer.  
“Are you really interested in the resistance?” his voice lowered further.  
“Yes,” Taylor’s eyes instantly widened, “tell me when and where and I’ll do whatever I can.”  
“We could use a voice like yours. As long as it doesn’t mean a loose tongue to go with it.”  
“Of course not,” Taylor scowled.  
“How do we contact you?” he finally let go of Taylor’s arm.  
Taylor paused, still wary about it being some kind of elaborate trap. But at the same time his overwhelming need to do something about his situation was well at the forefront of his priorities. Checking over his shoulder he fished in the satchel for one of his business cards. Henley took it and gave him a pat on the shoulder.  
“Go,” he insisted, “we’ll find you. Stay safe.”  
“Thanks,” Taylor took a moment to commit his face to memory before fleeing the office.  
Once outside he took a deep breath, having to wonder if that had actually just happened. But he was already running late so he quickly took off.  
His walk was a long one and the sun was beginning to set. He diverted through forested areas and tried to keep away from the main roads as much as possible, but there was rarely traffic to begin with and any running motor could be heard from quite a distance out here. He kept an eye out for foot patrols but as per usual didn’t meet any along the way.  
As he got closer he removed his lanyard from his neck and stuffed it into his satchel, taking yet another look around to make sure no one had seen him do it. After pulling out the cassette his printer had given him he left the satchel in a well-used hole at the base of a small nearby bridge before climbing the opposite embankment and aiming for a small brick building. The building much like its surroundings was dark and it made him wonder if he were actually early.  
The door opened easily but all he could see inside was his shadow. A loud clang to the right startled him.  
“Rob?!” he called out, praying it were either him or a raccoon.  
“Yeah I’m here!”  
He breathed a sigh of relief, but held off on closing the door.  
“Why are you in the dark?” he had to ask.  
“My flashlight went out and I can’t find the- wait here it is.”  
Taylor smirked as a lighter flicked on and the very focused face of Rob Thomas could be seen trying to light some candles. Once he had three of them lit Taylor finally closed the door behind himself.  
“I’ll try and remember to bring a lamp or something next time,” Taylor promised, making his way over to the desk between them and taking a seat.  
“I could have sworn those batteries were going to last another two sessions easily. Maybe our brains aren’t the only wired systems losing the will to live faster these days,” Rob carefully set the candles aside so they had a greater span of light.  
“Probably not something worth adding,” Taylor mused, “oh!”  
He reached into his pocket for the cassette and set it on the desk. Rob immediately picked it up to have a look.  
“Sam and Dave?” he raised a brow, “nice.”  
“We got our first outside request,” Taylor couldn’t help but smile.  
“Then we should probably get to work,” Rob smiled back, grabbing a set of nearby headphones and starting to flip switches under the desk,  
“No argument here,” Taylor reached for his own headphones, “we’ve got a lot to talk about this week.”


	14. Hold On I'm Coming

”Welcome back to Radio One, possibly the last free radio station running live in the United States,” Taylor introduced.  
“Yes we are coming at you live from _inside_ the world’s largest prison camp. We didn’t escape, we aren’t broadcasting via satellite, we are in here with you guys and living just the same day to day horrors,” Rob continued.  
“But we don’t believe it should all be doom and gloom on a day to day basis so we are here to provide you with something that the Korean army saw fit to take from us – which would be music.”  
“You were all there for the announcement, you all know how serious this was,” Rob went on, “there was a great deal of chaos in the streets before people realized they couldn’t really fight, and weeks later they began actively hunting musicians like ourselves down only for those guys to never be seen again. We, obviously, were two of the lucky ones for different reasons and we survived the initial Great Cleanse.”  
“And we’re going to use that luck to help you fine people out there make it through your day just a little easier,” Taylor shot him a glance before reaching over to take the cassette back and starting to set it up.  
“A reminder folks to make sure that you keep your radio or other listening device well away from the ears of any patrolling officers or scouts or basically anyone in a uniform at the moment. Don’t go bragging to your boss that you listen to this awesome radio show put on by a couple of nerds because those nerds will not be taking responsibility for whatever trouble you get yourself into by outright breaking the new music laws.”  
“We can only hold responsibility for our own breaking of said laws,” Taylor agreed, “which I’m sure we can all agree are absolute bullshit but this is the world we live in now.”  
“If you haven’t listened before the show will run for about an hour or two depending on how tired we are at that point and it will loop continuously for the week ahead so you can listen absolutely anytime you want to and not miss a thing.”  
“We have a lot to talk about this week including the religious treaty and rumors of tornados and unrest so we’d better get on with the show.”  
“I believe my partner in crime here has something a little special for us to kick off with.”  
“I do, we have an actual request. We were just saying last week how we wished we had a secure phone line or something that people could call to make requests on and well, we still do not have a phone line but we do have a request.”  
“One step at a time. It’s all progress.”  
“This song is actually a favorite of mine and I’m kicking myself that I didn’t have it to begin with, but our listener has come to the rescue and handed in a Sam and Dave cassette for us to use.”  
“Thank you listener.”  
“Thank you indeed. Hopefully I can resist singing along, because here’s _Hold On I’m Coming_.”

 _”Don’t you ever feel sad, lean on me when times are bad. When the day comes and you’re down, in a river of trouble and about to drown…”_  
“Sorry to hear about Viggo,” Rob had his hand in his head as they waited to make sure the show would loop properly.  
“Thanks,” Taylor was picking at his nails, leaning back in his seat, “it was really sudden. And Zac’s daughter was so sick that we thought we might lose her too.”  
“Touch wood,” Rob knocked on the desk, “we haven’t had to deal with sickness yet. Do you know what caused it?”  
“No,” Taylor shook his head, “they guessed it was a chest infection so we aren’t sure if she caught a virus or if something just set it off.”  
“It has to be hard to tell when they have so many kids crammed into small places now. There must be all sorts flying around.”  
“Yeah,” Taylor agreed, “who knows. They closed one of the annex schools further south as well so even more kids are at ours now, even with the damaged buildings.”  
“Are they rebuilding or just expecting the kids to learn in ruins?”  
“Rebuilding, it started first thing on Monday morning. Ike’s on the carpentry team.”  
“How did he swing that?”  
“I think they pulled names out of a hat,” Taylor shrugged, “I don’t think he wanted to but their group just got chosen and they didn’t have a choice.”  
“Sounds about right.”  
They stopped to listen for a while, Rob stifling a yawn. It was well after dark by now but still nowhere near midnight.  
“So I had a weird thing happen before I came here today…” Taylor tilted his head.  
“How weird?”  
“Pretty weird. I was dropping off some prints for a client and he had this customer come in who recognized my voice.”  
Rob folded his arms, at full attention now.  
“He had to be a listener. Anyway, he asked if I was serious about wanting to help the resistance.”  
Rob’s brow rose.  
“Yeah. I don’t know,” Taylor shrugged, “I gave him my card and he said they’d contact me. I don’t know how or when. But the sooner the better because right now I could use a fight.”  
“You know I’m up for it,” Rob agreed, “if they want us to broadcast coded messages or something we can do that pretty easily. But I’d probably back away from doing these shows any more than once a week still.”  
“Oh no, totally,” Taylor assured, “it’s already hard enough skirting the patrols once a week let alone multiple times, plus with the food truck nights and whatever… it’s not worth it. But if they really are listening they should have worked out our limitations by now.”  
“Depends how long they’ve been listening for. I wonder how they found us?”  
“They might be using radio for their own transmissions,” Taylor shook his head, “I have no idea but I’d love to find out.”  
“Hopefully you will, sooner rather than later,” Rob gave him a wink.  
“Hopefully,” Taylor checked his watch.  
He made sure to grab the cassette in case his printer wanted it back and set the headphones aside.  
“I’d better head off or I’ll miss my ride,” he sighed.  
“I’ll close up here,” Rob promised, “you have to fill me in next week on what happens with the resistance.”  
“I might even bring you a uniform,” Taylor smirked, “goodnight Rob. Stay safe.”  
“Stay safe Tay. Bring some more music next time.”

 _”Don’t have to worry ‘cause I’m here, no need to suffer baby ‘cause I’m here…”_  
Taylor walked backwards as the truck approached, managing to climb aboard while it was still rolling.  
“Jordan!” the group of workers inside chorused once he made it inside.  
“안녕하세요,” he greeted in response, glad to see their familiar faces.  
But it was an awkward glad, considering it would only take one wrong word and half a second for them to all turn on him.  
“We have been learning English too,” one of the soldiers was beaming as Taylor took a seat among them, “you must prepare a test for us for next week.”  
“I could probably do that,” Taylor considered, “what have you been learning?”  
“The ABC’s,” one of them chuckled.  
“It’s a good place to start,” Taylor grinned back, their good moods lifting his spirit already.  
Another started to recite the ABC’s, stopping about halfway in confusion and prompting an argument with two others about the correct order.  
“The alphabet is not the most important thing to know,” Taylor eventually broke in to try and settle them, despite none of them turning angry, “the most important thing is the basics, like how to ask for a bathroom, and manners.”  
“Bathroom,” one of them sniggered, “that’s called a tree!”  
Taylor rolled his eyes as the group broke into laughter.  
“We learn orders, we have to tell the people what to do,” another attempted to explain, “we tell people ‘be quiet’ and ‘sit down’ and ‘stop yelling’.”  
“Or we shoot,” one purposely set his accompanying rifle aside.  
Taylor eyed it, again suddenly aware of his mortality.  
“Not you, you are safe,” the one beside him rubbed his arm with a chuckle, “you are how say, special! We like you.”  
“I’m glad,” Taylor insisted, wondering for the millionth time if befriending these men had been such a good idea, “I hope you keep remembering that.”  
“We could never forget you,” another promised, “you have been great help.”  
“You have too,” Taylor offered a smile before frowning, “though I might be putting a little weight on now that I don’t have to walk as far home every Wednesday.”  
They broke into laughter again and Taylor hoped the awkwardness had passed. He was quite happy to get back to teaching them more of his language and learning some more of theirs.

 _”Reach out to me for satisfaction. Call my name for quick reaction…”_  
Taylor could see the lamplight as he headed for the bedroom and knew that Natalie had stayed up to wait for him. He took a moment to prepare himself before opening the door.  
Natalie glanced up from the book she was reading before simply going back to it. The look told him that she definitely wasn’t happy with him. He debated saying something but instead just grabbed his pyjamas and went for a shower.  
When he emerged again she’d put her book down but was still sitting up in bed.  
“Everything okay?” he had to ask, knowing she wouldn’t go first.  
“You tell me,” her eyes followed him as he took out some clothes for the next day, knowing he’d be a tired zombie by morning.  
“It went fine, nothing happened,” he assured, avoiding eye contact.  
“You got a little close to name dropping there. You probably shouldn’t have mentioned the tornado.”  
“Enough people were effected, we don’t even know how many died that day.”  
“If you think so.”  
“I had an interesting encounter today,” he tried to change the subject, the tension in the room not easing at all.  
“Did someone recognize you?” she jumped on right away.  
“Sort of,” he admitted, not willing to get into bed just yet, “they recognized my voice from the radio.”  
Natalie took a deep breath. This was exactly the kind of thing she’d been afraid of.  
“But it wasn’t a bad thing,” he began to fidget.  
“How could that not be a bad thing?” she demanded.  
“Because I’m pretty sure he was with the resistance.”  
She looked up in surprise at that.  
“Yeah, he asked if I was truly interested or I don’t know… if I was just saying it.”  
“How can you be sure it was legitimate? What if he just wanted to bait you?” she frowned.  
“It sounded legitimate.”  
“It _sounded_ legitimate?”  
“He sounded sincere,” Taylor didn’t know why he hadn’t even thought of it before now – he’d just wanted to jump at any chance that it might have been the real resistance.  
Natalie rubbed her face, leaving her hands in her hair. She wanted to slap him but she already knew he just hadn’t been thinking straight.  
“Maybe I should come to work with you tomorrow,” she said under her breath.  
“Why?” Taylor frowned, “we haven’t had the best luck when we’ve been out together lately.”  
“It doesn’t sound like you’ve had much luck on your own either!” she pointed out, “and maybe I can stop you from…”  
“From what?” he frowned when she trailed off.  
“From doing or saying something stupid,” she relented, not having wanted to say it out loud.  
“So now you don’t trust me,” he understood.  
“It’s kind of hard to right now,” she admitted, “you’re not yourself.”  
“No one is!” he defended, “have you looked outside recently?!”  
Natalie rolled her eyes. He knew very well that wasn’t what she’d meant.  
“Maybe I’m making some stupid mistakes,” he admitted, “but at least I’m not hiding from anything.”  
“Are you saying I am?”  
“No,” he scowled, “I’m just saying that’s the alternative. I either get out there and I continue on, or I shut myself away from the world like Zac has. What would you prefer?”  
“At least you have the freedom of choice,” Natalie felt the need to defend his brother.  
“I do, and I’m not going to waste it,” Taylor insisted, “I want to make sure I get as much fresh air as I can before-“  
He cut off, realizing he didn’t want to say it out loud.  
“Before what?” Natalie prompted, sensing his conundrum but not in the mood to play around.  
Taylor looked toward the closed door. He couldn’t be sure, but he felt like there might be prying ears behind it. This wasn’t a discussion any of the kids needed to hear.  
“Do you want me to sleep on the couch or…?” he changed the subject again.  
“Don’t be an idiot,” she scoffed, turning her lamp off despite knowing she was too riled up to sleep.  
He stood awkwardly for a moment as she settled down before finally coming to join her. They didn’t say another word to each other.


	15. Two Princes

_”So the treaty this past week. How did that go for you?”  
“I think it could have gone a lot worse. The area that I went to, while there were definitely thousands of people there, was pretty well organized and I didn’t hear of anyone getting into trouble. What about you?”  
“I think we were just in and out so fast that we didn’t really pay attention. I took my son with me and it was just a case of ‘eye on the prize’ and get the hell out after. There were a lot of upset people don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think anyone put up a fight. I think we all knew we were there to make things easier for ourselves in the long run, and if you’re like us and you believe that this will come to an end someday you know for yourselves that this is only temporary and while you won’t get those particular artefacts back you will find new ones and maybe create new traditions and heirlooms in the process.”  
“That’s a good point to make.”  
“I’m sure it’s what a lot of people have been thinking even if they won’t say it aloud.”  
“There’s definitely a lot of things people aren’t saying aloud these days. I for sure heard some mutters at the treaty about things people wish they could do but know they certainly couldn’t get away with.”  
“There are always mutters but I do wish people would be more careful with those as well. There really are ears everywhere and you don’t know for sure who’s on your side.”  
“Also true. Our official statement on the matter is basically – make sure you know who you’re talking to and that they are definitely in agreement with you, and don’t talk shit out in the open or frankly anywhere that you could be shot. And I mean literally shot, right?”  
“Yeah, from what I’ve seen with my own two eyes just this week.”  
“Care to share?”  
“I don’t know that I should out of respect for those involved, but I’ll certainly share off air.”  
“Then we’d better roll a song.”  
“Well it’s your turn. What have you found?”  
“I have found some Spin Doctors.”  
“Yes! Good find! Which song?”  
“One of my favorites, and I’m pretty sure it’s the same for a lot of people. Here’s _Two Princes _.”_

 _“One two, princes kneel before you, that’s what I said now. Princes, princes who adore you, just go ahead now. One has diamonds in his pockets, that’s some bread now. This one said he wants to buy you rockets, ain’t in his head now…”_  
“How are those classes with Shepherd going?” Isaac looked down at Monroe as they walked.  
His son shrugged non-committedly. Isaac looked across at Everett on the other side but he was keeping his eyes down.  
“How are they handling what happened with the tornado?” he decided to press, not having had much time to talk to his kids since it had happened, “do you still have the same teachers?”  
“No. One died,” Monroe replied sullenly.  
“Have they talked to you about what happened?” Isaac was suddenly worried about how they might have gone about it.  
“Not really. They told us to write down some things about anyone we knew that got hurt but not everyone knew everyone that died so it was kinda weird.”  
“How many people died?” Isaac hoped that with almost a week passing it wouldn’t upset him too much to talk about.  
“Fifteen.”  
“Fifteen?!” Isaac stopped walking in surprise, “how many of those were kids?”  
“Thirteen I think,” Monroe looked back as Everett kept walking, “there was a lot of people there.”  
“Plus all the extras from south Tulsa,” Everett added, “even more people than usual.”  
Isaac took a moment to comprehend before jogging a little to catch up to them.   
“Did they hold any kind of service for them?” he asked.  
“Nope,” Monroe shrugged, “we’re just learning Korean like usual, just with one less teacher.”  
“And you’re sticking with Shepherd, right?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Good. Keep your eyes on each other.”  
“We will.”  
Isaac wanted to ask how they’d managed to lose Viggo when the three had been so close since the change, but figured it was far too soon. Monroe wasn’t offering extra information and they had to wait until he was ready. He did wonder if Zac and Kate were having any better luck with Shepherd but he didn’t have an easy way to find out.  
He took his boys straight to registration where he kept an eye out for Natalie again. This morning he didn’t see her. After making sure that Everett and Monroe went in the gates together he headed for his own sign-in. 

_”This one got a princely racket, that’s what I said now. Got some big seal upon his jacket, ain’t in his head now. You marry him your father will condone you, how about that now? You marry me your father will disown you, he’ll eat his hat now…”_  
“How genuine do you think it is?” Zac’s brow raised from where he leant over the dining table.  
“I think it’s pretty genuine,” Taylor was packing his bag for the day, “it didn’t even cross my mind at the time that it wouldn’t be, and if they were just trying to flush me out it wouldn’t have been hard just to have me taken in then and there.”  
“Unless they were going to follow you,” Zac considered, “did you get that feeling at all? Like maybe they wanted you to lead them to Rob?”  
“No,” Taylor stopped to shake his head, “I know it’s weird to say, but when I’m out there on the road I can usually sense if there’s someone watching or someone out there. I got nothing last night.”  
“Well that’s good, I guess,” Zac wondered how far he could trust that particular sense after the week they’d had.  
“I don’t think it’s a trap,” Taylor was trying to remember back to the man’s body language and how tense it had been, “but any contact with the resistance was going to be hard to begin with. They need to be secretive. The fact I got approached at all is a surprise in itself.”  
“They had to be sure they had the right person,” Zac pointed out, “had you seen the guy before anywhere?”  
“I don’t think so,” Taylor frowned, “he didn’t look familiar.”  
“Was he there at the food truck? When you got recognized?”  
“I don’t remember,” Taylor shrugged, pulling his satchel over his shoulder, “I was too busy trying to keep my head down and keep the guards distracted from that asshole.”  
“Have you considered not going next week?” Zac suggested, “I mean if I could go in your place, I would, but…”  
“No. I can’t…” Taylor had to stop to find his words, “it’s too dangerous, I already don’t like taking Nat as it is. Every week there’s more and more people just losing their minds, which is understandable if they’re starving but there’s no way to change it yet. It’s not as if people like us can help people like them if they’re just making it dangerous for everybody.”  
“Maybe you should start taking note of who’s causing it if it’s the same people each time? You could send them to places like Josh’s.”  
“Maybe,” Taylor’s eyes fell, “but if it’s just the kind of people they are then I’m not putting him in danger either.”  
“You’d better get to work,” Zac glanced at a nearby clock.  
Taylor paused, knowing he was right but not done yet.  
“Do you think we should do something tomorrow?” he kept his voice down, “for it being a week?”  
“Since Viggo?” Zac waited for his nod, “I don’t know. Do you need something?”  
Taylor wasn’t honestly sure if he did or not, he’d been thinking mostly of the kids.  
“No,” he realized aloud, “but the others might.”  
“I’ll have a think today and see what I come up with,” Zac promised, “now get out of here.”  
Taylor smirked but headed for the door.

 _”Marry him or marry me? I’m the one who loves you baby can’t you see? I ain’t got no future or family tree but I know what a prince and lover ought to be, I know what a prince and lover ought to be…”_  
“I talked to my cousin yesterday.”  
Isaac looked up as Clive spoke before quickly checking how far away the guards were. He’d been careful.  
“He says they do got a lot of orders right now but he’s gonna drop over a book today that shows what they can do and he can add your bro to the list.”  
“That sounds great,” Isaac assured, “I’m sure he’ll be very thankful. I’ll pass it on tomorrow.”  
“That when you seeing him next?”  
“I doubt it. We don’t really see each other so much anymore,” Isaac looked a little forlorn.  
“How come? He live too far away?”  
“Partly. His kids come to this school but his wife brings them in now because it’s a bit too dangerous for him.”  
“How so?”  
Isaac shrugged, trying not to give anything away.  
“He doesn’t have too many friends left around here I guess.”  
“I get it. People looking for an excuse to be rid of you,” Clive nodded, “we’ve had our troubles with that already. We got some pretty racist neighbors. They’d love to see us gone.”  
“Sorry to hear,” Isaac sympathized.  
“Pretty sure they got taken away,” Clive shrugged, “haven’t seen them in over a week.”  
“말하지 마!” they heard a shout and suddenly realized they’d been overheard.  
Clive went back to hammering nails as Isaac readied a saw. The soldier who’d called out marched over to them and stood over Isaac casting a shadow on his work.  
“I’m sorry,” Isaac quickly offered, lining up the saw and driving it into the plank.  
The soldier wasn’t moving. Isaac could feel the hairs on the back of his neck start to stand on end.  
“너는 문제가있다,” he scowled behind him, and Isaac wasn’t sure if he should turn around, “너희 둘 다.”  
“I’m sorry I don’t know that much Korean,” he kept his head down.  
“He says we’re trouble,” Clive offered, “he wants to keep an eye on us.”  
“Well I gotta get back to work so…” Isaac looked over his shoulder.  
He saw the shadow move but otherwise had no warning before he was hit across the back with a baton. Isaac felt the sting just under his right shoulder and clutched at it as he fell forward.  
“Hey!” Clive came to his defence, quickly backing off when the baton was pointed toward him.  
“I said I was sorry, what do you want me to do?!” Isaac exclaimed, this time able to shield himself when the baton came down again.  
It hit near to the same spot and he had to grunt at the force.  
“조용히 해!” the soldier’s voice rose, “quiet! You quiet! No noise!”  
“Okay! Okay,” Isaac’s hands went up in surrender, waiting to see if he’d be hit again before bothering to return to work this time.  
“ID,” the soldier held out a hand.  
That he understood. Isaac removed his lanyard and handed it over, rubbing his shoulder while it was checked. The soldier handed it back and walked over to Clive.  
“ID,” he demanded again, and Clive relented.  
His was looked over as well and Isaac didn’t move just in case. When it was handed back the soldier turned to stare down at him again.  
“WORK!” he shouted the order, making both of them jump, “work quiet!”  
He took his leave, but Isaac kept an eye on him as he marched away. He lined the saw up and got back to work, watching as the soldier conferred with a comrade further down the line.  
With a look back to make sure that Clive was okay, they shared a knowing glance before continuing to forcibly ignore each other. Isaac tried to ignore the pain in his back as the saw quickly began to test his shoulder’s resilience.

 _”If you want to call me baby just go ahead now, and if you would like to tell me maybe just go ahead now. If you would like to buy me flowers just go ahead now, and if you would like to talk for hours just go ahead now…”_  
The house was bustling with the usual dinner rush when Taylor arrived home from work. Once Kate caught sight of him she quickly added more rice to the stove.  
“Hey,” Zac was the first person he spotted, directing the table settings.  
“I’ll talk to you later,” Zac assured, “I got some ideas for tomorrow.”  
“Cool,” Taylor nodded before crossing paths with Natalie.  
“We saw Isaac this afternoon,” she put a hand on his arm, “his friend is going to give him some flyers for what stone work they can do that we can have a look at. But they have a long list of people asking so we can’t expect anything soon.”  
“That’s fair,” Taylor agreed.  
“Go wash up,” she gave his arm a pat before heading for the dining area.  
Taylor set his satchel aside before going to do as he was told. He couldn’t help but think it a little odd at the lack of tension in the house he’d walked into. Everyone had seemed so on edge since even before Viggo’s death, but it suddenly felt as though he was simply going to sit down to a normal family dinner. He couldn’t even relish the feeling knowing it would probably soon change.  
He washed his hands and headed back to the family, able to join them with only a slightly late dinner. Only Shepherd and Junia were quiet at the table with Junia not quite recovered from her infection just yet.


	16. Dream On

_“We continually promise not to make this show too dark but then all these stories start coming out and frankly I don’t know how to make this anything but depressing.”  
“It’s hard work but we have to do it. Besides, that’s what the music is for.”  
“Eventually we’re just going to turn into a revolving music show and not talk at all.”  
“I actually wouldn’t have a problem with that. We don’t have any advertising to do, it could turn into what music radio used to be before it started getting weighed down with ridiculous breakfast radio talk and ‘the drive home’ bullshit. When it really was about the music and having something good to listen to as opposed to talk-back and politically biased opinions of the individual DJs.”  
“Sounds like there’s some issues there alone.”  
“I’ve had my problems with radio personalities I won’t lie, but honestly the media in general was getting pretty bad before the change. We all knew it.”  
“Can’t argue there.”  
“So I know they keep talking about this change being a kind of ‘cleanse’ and I guess I get where they’re coming from with that, I just think they went way, way overboard.”  
“You’re thinking like a Noah’s Ark kind of deal aren’t you?”  
“Yeah, basically.”  
“Did we make it onto the Ark or not do you think?”  
“Right now? I can’t tell. I guess the Ark wouldn’t have been a great place to be while the world drowned but they weren’t dead so…”  
“Rings some bells doesn’t it?”  
“Yeah…”  
“I don’t think I could personally compare this happening to anything biblical, except maybe a plague on the people that we’re all at the mercy of. But I guess it has certainly narrowed the population a bit and in addition we don’t know what’s going on outside the boundaries so…”  
“Right, we don’t know what’s going on up north beyond the border or out west over the deserts. The boundary is pretty big considering we don’t have access to mass transport anymore and we’re certainly stuck in the middle of said area.”  
“We have had word from California of course but a lot of people were cast out of the area even before we conceded defeat. I’d wager as soon as the bombs started dropped people began to evacuate.”  
“And the Mexican border was closed soon after that thanks to all the American refugees.”  
“Right. I hate to think that what we have left here in our ‘section’ is predominantly what is left of the American population, but I wouldn’t be all too surprised to find out either.”  
“And yet we’re dropping like flies in here too.”  
“As your story during the last song so blatantly pointed out. I think we should get on with the next one and rack our brains to think of something happy while it’s playing.”  
“Whose turn is it?”  
“Yours I believe.”  
“Great, because I have a band lined up that we haven’t featured yet I don’t think. I’ve got some Aerosmith.”  
“Bit of a travesty that we haven’t played them yet.”  
“Really. Here’s _Dream On _.”_

 _“Every time when I look in the mirror, all these lines on my face getting clearer. The past is gone, it went by like dusk to dawn, isn’t that the way? Everybody’s got the dues in life to pay…”_  
“Very impressed with your work. I thought it would be hard to find some decent art after the change,” the elder man was gruff as he looked over the prints, “these will go well in my new office space.”  
“Thank you Sir,” Taylor gave a short nod, “I admit there hasn’t been much of a need for it lately but there’s always the occasional throwback. My printer and I help each other out quite a bit and recurring clients help us both.”  
“Hmm,” the man continued looking over the prints, leaving Taylor to wait in awkward silence to make sure he approved of everything.  
“They’ll do,” he finally gave a verdict, “see my secretary downstairs for your payment.”  
“Thank you Sir,” Taylor smiled with another nod before taking his leave.  
He took a deep breath as he left. He didn’t know how some people had become so much more influential than others in this current landscape but the social standings of rich vs the poor were still very much in play. Getting on this guy’s bad side would not have done them well at all.  
He made it into the foyer where two people were waiting while a third argued with the young secretary who looked to be a relative of the man upstairs. It was getting heated and Taylor was already praying in his head that he wouldn’t have to intervene. Money was an especially sore topic with anybody and everybody these days.  
In the end the woman put in a call to her father or uncle (he guessed) and the disgruntled client turned on those waiting.  
“What are you looking at?!” he demanded of the two seated who quickly diverted their eyes.  
With a scowl his eyes landed on Taylor and he immediately froze. The look of recognition in the man’s eyes was unmistakable.  
“How the fuck did you of all people survive?” his frown only deepened.  
“Excuse me?” Taylor frowned in return, hoping to play it off.  
He didn’t recognize the man, but that didn’t mean much.  
“You think because you were kids when you made it big that you get a free pass?! Fuck that shit! We lost a ton of musicians way better than you!”  
“What are you talking about? Who is he?” one of the men sitting leant forward as Taylor’s face began to turn red.  
“It’s Taylor fucking Hanson can’t you tell?!”  
“You need to leave,” the woman behind the desk stood in defiance, “my father will send your payment before nightfall.”  
The man smirked, looked Taylor up and down, and left in a better mood than he’d been in at all. Taylor eyed the two men left behind, one covering his face and the other looking him over with interest.  
“I’m so sorry about that, Jordan,” the woman pointedly said his name, “did everything go alright upstairs?”  
“Yes,” Taylor tried to shake it off, “he said to come down here for payment.”  
“Of course,” she sat down again and looked through her desk, “450,000 won, yes?”  
“That’s right.”  
He glanced over again as he heard the two men whispering to each other. They fell silent at his look.  
“Here you go,” she quickly handed him an envelope which he hid in his satchel right away, “if you don’t mind, I’d like to call security for you.”  
“I’m sorry?” his brow furrowed.  
“We’ve had trouble with that client before,” she eyed the door, “if he thinks you’re someone important he may try to rob you on the way out.”  
“Oh… okay,” Taylor noticed her careful wording, “sure.”  
She offered him a smile and picked up the phone again. Another look toward the two men saw them looking confused now.  
Security guards arrived in moments.  
“Could you please escort Jordan here in whichever direction he needs to go,” she asked them, “we’ve had a problematic client just leave.”  
“Yes ma’am,” one of them nodded before indicating for Taylor to lead the way.  
“Thank you,” he gave her a smile.  
“Thank you,” she looked him over in a way that made him pause.  
He instantly realized that she knew who he was too. He just wasn’t sure if she’d known beforehand or if she’d only just found out as well.  
Without another word he left the office, two suited guards in tow. Outside the building the man in question could be seen in the distance using a satellite phone and Taylor felt his skin crawl when they momentarily made eye contact.  
“Where do you need to go?” one of the guards asked when he stopped.  
“This way,” Taylor shook himself off.  
They walked with him for a few blocks to make sure he wasn’t followed before bidding him ‘good day’ and returning to the office.

 _”I know nobody knows, where it comes and where it goes. I know it’s everybody’s sin, you got to lose to know how to win…”_  
“This looks great, thank you,” Natalie had a quick look at the flyer as soon as it was handed to her.  
“Let me know as soon as you can what you want and what you want on it so we can put you on the list,” Isaac rotated his shoulder as he spoke, “I’ll be working all weekend if you come back through here at all.”  
“I’m sure it can wait until Monday,” Natalie mused, “but thank you. Is your shoulder okay?”  
“Yeah, fine,” Isaac quickly stopped, becoming self-conscious, “just a mishap at work yesterday.”  
“Are you sure?” he seemed to be shrugging it off a little too easily.  
“Sure. So let Tay know that we’re thinking of you guys today, okay?” he took a quick look around before lowering his voice, “and we’ll say a prayer for Viggo tonight.”  
“Thank you,” Natalie smiled, reaching up for a hug.  
Isaac winced a little as it pulled on his shoulder but waited for her to pull back first.   
“You’re welcome,” he assured, “we’re just sad we can’t be there with you tonight.”  
“Zac came up with this idea for another ceremony at the gravesite tonight,” Natalie revealed, “so I don’t know how that’s going to go.”  
“You might find you need it?” he suggested, “now that the shock has had time to settle in. He was buried within twenty-four hours wasn’t he?”  
“He was, and it was a shock,” Natalie agreed, “I guess we’ll see. I hope you’re right.”  
“I’m sure I am,” he mused before giving her a pat on the arm, “good luck, have a good night. Stay safe.”  
“Thanks. You too,” she smiled before the kids impatiently pulled her away.

 _“Half my life is books, written pages. Live and learn from fools and from sages. You know it’s true, all these feelings come back to you…”_  
A somber mood had taken over the Hanson household in lieu of Zac’s ceremony for Viggo. A few of the kids even expressed concerns about revisiting the tragedy when they wanted to just move past it. But both Taylor and Natalie easily convinced them that while they had already said goodbye to their brother or cousin a week before they each now had a chance to add anything they may have forgotten or anything that had come up in the past week. So they each wrote a letter or drew a drawing that Taylor planned to add to a shoebox which he would also eventually bury with his son. This time, the adults joined in.  
Zac gave a bit of a sermon over the grave before inviting everyone to put what they wanted into the box. Between the eleven contributors the box easily filled. As the family departed inside, Zac stayed behind with Taylor with the assumption that he might bury it right away.  
“Something feels wrong,” Taylor looked off into the trees, his arms folded.  
“Where do we start?” Zac offered for him to go on.  
Taylor looked back up to the house where Natalie gave him one last glance before closing the glass door behind everybody.  
“Have you felt it?” he frowned, “these past few days have just seemed off.”  
“Off?” Zac wasn’t sure.  
“Like a calm before a storm,” Taylor shrugged, “maybe it’s because so much has gone wrong just continuously that a few days of reprieve feels weird.”  
“Hopefully that’s what it is because I haven’t felt anything,” Zac admitted, “anything different I mean. It’s weird not having Viggo around but apart from that…”  
“I don’t mean that,” Taylor pulled a face, “it’s something else.”  
“Maybe it’s a culmination of everything that’s happened,” Zac suggested, “like not seeing Ike every day. Not being able to just call Mom and Dad whenever we want. Not being able to just drive to the studio and work on that annoying medley that is _still_ in my head from three weeks ago.”  
“Maybe.”  
“They don’t call it the Great Change for nothing is all I’m saying.”  
Taylor looked back up at the house again with a sigh.   
“We’ve had time to get used to it,” he countered, wondering for the hundredth time if he should tell anyone about what had happened at work that day.  
He didn’t want anyone to worry, and it wasn’t as though they hadn’t dealt with people recognizing them already. This particular man had just seemed more angry about it.  
“Something on your mind?” Zac picked up on right away.  
“Always,” Taylor smirked.  
Zac rolled his eyes.  
“We can always re-enact the emergency protocols if it’ll make you feel better?” he suggested.  
“Maybe over the weekend,” Taylor agreed before a pause, “…it is the weekend, isn’t it?”  
“Saturday tomorrow,” Zac nodded slowly, “I heard Nat say that Ike’s working all weekend. Kinda wish we could keep him company.”  
“You and me both. Before Viggo I hadn’t seen him since…” Taylor’s eyes fell to the grave, but quickly diverted to the box.  
“What are you going to do with it?” Zac realized what had happened.  
“Leave it for now, in case the kids want to add anything,” Taylor rubbed his face, “I’ll bury it tomorrow.”  
“Sounds good,” Zac held a hand out, indicating for Taylor to follow him back to the house.  
Taylor hesitated, not feeling quite ready to, but relented.


	17. Born In The USA

_”We haven’t really discussed what might be happening outside the camp.”  
“Mostly because we don’t know, I guess.”  
“As far as other countries not to mention the other sub-sections of the States. I think we can take a pretty good guess as to what’s going on in the rest of the States. I don’t see it being much different to what’s going on in here.”  
“I don’t either.”  
“But once the borders were closed a lot of foreigners were left trapped here, just like so many of our citizens were left stranded overseas.”  
“Immediate family included, in some cases.”  
“I don’t personally know any of these travellers, so I don’t know if they’re being treated any different to the way that we are.”  
“I don’t remember having to hand over my passport at registration.”  
“Me neither, but we did have to show a government issued ID.”  
“True…”  
“So they might have been able to segregate them that way. I’d be interested in hearing from anyone that does know, if you know me outside of a radio. Were they shipped out? Were they kept here against their will?”  
“We also haven’t heard of anyone trying to get back into the country either so we don’t know how that’s going.”  
“I personally think you’d be insane to try.”  
“Well we as a nation are not always known for our sanity.”  
“Touché.”   
“Or were, I guess. But yeah I’d be interested in hearing too. Hearing anything from outside, really. Especially when it concerns the military and the countries that sent help despite it being a little too late.”  
“Same, same.”  
“We don’t know if they were killed or just turned away or maybe they’re still even here? We just don’t know.”  
“I think with all this talk I have the perfect song somewhere.”  
“And the listeners can all just wait while you look for it.”  
“People, if you’ve listened before you know very well that we aren’t too organized in here. We did just commandeer this shed from whoever had it before so we’re still going through all the tapes and vinyls and CDs…”  
“We’re getting there.”  
“We are slowly, slowly getting there. We’re more organized every week.”  
“Do you know where it is? I might have it on this side of the desk.”  
“Nope I’ve got it! Let me just put it in.”  
“I can see what it is now and I have to say, good choice. Very patriotic.”  
“And it’s in! Here’s Springsteen with _Born In The USA _.”_

 _“Born down in a dead man’s town, the first kick I took was when I hit the ground. End up like a dog that’s been beat too much, ‘til you spend half your life just covering up…”_  
When Natalie woke the following morning she was surprised to find Taylor already sitting up with the lamp on. When she rolled over to see what he was doing she saw the stone mason’s flyer in his hands.  
“Sorry if I woke you,” he said softly, eyes transfixed.  
“No, I don’t think so,” she mumbled as she pushed herself up, “everything okay?”  
“Just couldn’t sleep,” he admitted, turning a page.  
“Have you been up all night?” she frowned.  
“Not all night,” he assured, “just most of it.”  
Natalie grunted, falling back into her pillow.  
“Lucky we don’t have to do much today I guess.”  
“That’s what I figured.”  
They shared a moment of silence before Taylor shifted on the bed making her open her eyes again.  
“What do you think of this one?” he pointed out a gravestone, waiting patiently while she rubbed her eyes and waited for them to adjust.  
“It’s beautiful, but I don’t think we can afford it,” she was wary, despite having leaned toward it herself the day before.  
“It’s not coming tomorrow,” Taylor pointed out, “we have time to save for it.”  
“But how? We’re having enough trouble getting by on your salary alone, and that’s only when you have actual paying jobs to lean on.”  
“Work’s picking up,” Taylor shrugged, “what if we just choose a base income and if we go above that at all we put that extra money away? It might take a few months but I’m sure they’re in no rush for a sale.”  
“Maybe,” Natalie couldn’t think straight just yet.  
“I’ll make a start on breakfast,” Taylor offered, jumping out of bed far too readily and leaving the flyer beside her, “the kids should be up soon.”  
“Okay,” she mumbled, face half buried in the pillow still, “thank you.”  
Taylor stood in the doorway for a moment to watch as she almost instantly fell asleep again before heading out to the kitchen. He was surprised to find Ezra already there, his red hair sticking up in random places showing that he hadn’t been up very long.  
“What are you doing up?” Taylor asked him as he headed for the pantry.  
“The radio’s not working,” Ezra slurred a little, obviously still half asleep.  
Taylor paused at that, looking at where Ezra was staring at it on the countertop.  
“We knew the batteries would run out eventually,” Taylor reminded him, “I think we were planning a quiet day at home for today but I might go ask around for one we can run off the generator.”  
“Won’t that waste energy?” Ezra looked up, “you always tell us only to use the power if we have to.”  
“Do you have to have the radio?” Taylor raised a brow.  
Ezra looked back at it, a torn expression on his face.  
“I’ll see what I can do,” Taylor promised without waiting for a response, “you won’t be the only one upset about it.”  
“I’m not upset, it just sucks.”

 _”I had a brother in Khe Sahn fighting off the Viet Cong, they’re still there he’s all gone. He had a woman he loved in Saigon, I got a picture of him in her arms now…”_  
“Where will you go?” Natalie asked worriedly as Taylor grabbed his lanyard to put around his neck.  
“Not far,” he assured, grabbing his cap from nearby as well, “hopefully I won’t have to barter anything.”  
“It might be either that or face someone asking why you would even want a radio,” Natalie folded her arms.  
“Didn’t think of that…” Taylor bit his lip, wondering if he should take something with him just in case.  
“See how you go,” she gave him a pat on the arm, “you can always come back.”  
“It’ll be most of my day gone by then probably,” Taylor looked back to where they could hear some of the kids playing a board game with Kate.  
“The things you do for this family,” Natalie teased.  
Taylor rolled his eyes before leaning in to kiss her goodbye.  
“Good luck,” she said as he opened the door.  
But he stopped at the sight of someone walking up the driveway.  
“What is it?” Natalie pulled the door aside to check for herself.  
“Neighbor,” Taylor realized, moving out to greet him, “hey!”  
“Hey Taylor,” the young man looked worried, “how are you guys doing over here?”  
“Getting by,” he replied, shaking his hand when he was close enough, “what’s wrong? You look like someone else died.”  
“No, no. Viggo was the latest,” he did look forlorn, “just came over to see if your radio was working.”  
Taylor hesitated before turning to look over his shoulder back at the house.  
“We have two of them and neither can pick up your signal anymore. Did you turn it off last night?”  
“No, of course not,” Taylor was frowning now, “ours wouldn’t work this morning either. I just figured the batteries had finally died.”  
“Maybe not if we can’t get ours working either.”  
“I was just heading out to see if I could find another one,” he admitted, “but I might try down the street and see if theirs is working. Have you checked anywhere else?”  
“Nope, came here first.”  
“Mind staying here while I check? I’ll only be maybe fifteen minutes if they’re home.”  
“Sure.”  
“Just tell Nat what I’m doing,” Taylor started to jog down the driveway.  
He went down the road a way before coming to the next nearest neighbor who he not only knew had a radio but he thought might actually be home at this time on a Saturday. When he knocked on the door the elder woman was surprised to see him.  
“Good morning Mrs. Hobbs,” he offered her a warm smile, “are you guys home alone?”  
“Of course,” but she wasn’t opening the door any further than she had to, “is this about the radio?”  
“It is,” Taylor had been hoping against anything that hers would be working and his face visibly fell.  
“It hasn’t picked up a signal since early this morning. Did you change your broadcast?”  
“No, unfortunately,” he rubbed his hands together thoughtfully, “but I’ll try and head down there to see what’s going on. Just try again tonight and if not tonight maybe tomorrow morning?”  
“Will do,” she gave a nod.  
“Thanks Mrs. Hobbs.”  
He frowned as he began to head home, wondering what could have possibly happened at the radio shack. The easiest answer was that the power had gone off and the loop hadn’t picked up again by itself. He was already hoping that nothing had happened to the shack itself. If it had been hit by a tornado for example, neither he nor Rob would know about it until they got there and saw the mess in person.  
When he got home both Natalie and the neighbor were waiting on the porch. He simply shook his head as he got closer.  
“What are you going to do?” Natalie asked him.  
“I’ll have to go down there,” he folded his arms, “Rob probably will too.”  
“During the day?” her brow rose.  
“I don’t know,” he frowned, “but the sooner probably the better. We don’t want a ton of people talking about what went wrong. That’ll just narrow down the crowd.”  
“Not to mention someone might be overheard,” their neighbor looked just as concerned.  
“Take Ezra with you,” Natalie insisted, “you should leave now if you want to be home by dinnertime.”

 _”Down in the shadow of the penitentiary, out by the gas fires of the refinery. I’m ten years burning down the road, nowhere to run ain’t got nowhere to go…”_  
“Leave your lanyard here,” Taylor instructed when they got to his usual burying spot.  
“Why?” Ezra was confused.  
“It’s a precaution. If we get caught but manage to get away there’s no chance of them grabbing it and working out who we are.”  
Ezra pulled a face but removed his lanyard all the same. Taylor quickly buried it along with his before leading the way up to the shack.  
The door was wide open but Rob was already there, sitting on a pile of bricks just outside it.  
“What happened?” Taylor spread his arms in question.  
“Hey Ezra, haven’t seen you in a while,” Rob ignored him, “did you have another growth spurt?”  
“Not that I know of,” Ezra looked to his Dad.  
“Is it working?” Taylor indicated the antenna atop the small building.  
“You might want to take a look inside,” Rob suggested, “as far as I know it’s still working.”  
“So did you turn it back on?” Taylor headed for the door anyway.  
Ezra was about to follow him when Rob indicated for him not to.   
“I don’t see anything,” Taylor called back.  
“Exactly,” Rob looked over his shoulder, “it’s like the switch was flipped and nothing else was touched. Sound fishy to you?”  
“Or…” Taylor returned to the doorway, “it could have been a raccoon.”  
“A bird might have got in?” Ezra suggested.  
“Even a squirrel or something,” Taylor shrugged as Rob just rolled his eyes, “surely if someone was pranking us they’d do more than just turn the broadcast off.”  
“Or it was a trap,” Rob said plainly.  
“I don’t see anyone laying in wait,” Taylor looked around, “they would have jumped us by now.”  
“Well I don’t know about you but I ain’t going straight home from here,” Rob looked up at him, “if we _are_ being watched, I’m not leading them to Mari.”  
“Dad?” Ezra was getting worried by Rob’s reaction.  
“We’ll take precautions, sure,” Taylor shrugged, “but there’s literally no other marker that anyone was here. Hopefully this is just a once-off. Could the switch have flipped itself if there was a power cut?”  
Rob gave him a scornful look.  
“The switch doesn’t move by itself,” he was blunt, “if the power went off the loop would have kept playing when it came back on.”  
“Right…” Taylor’s eyes went to the ground, trying to come up with more excuses.  
“Then something knocked it, it had to,” Ezra insisted.  
“It doesn’t look like anyone’s been here,” Taylor shook his head, just trying to reassure Rob at this point, “was the door open when you got here?”  
“No, which makes the stray animal theory even less likely.”  
“We’ve got windows, and not all of them have glass,” Taylor pointed out, “anything could have gotten in.”  
Rob threw his hands up and finally stood from his spot.  
“If it happens again we’ll have to figure out a way to stop it,” he sighed.  
“We can put something over the switch,” Taylor agreed, “I’ll see what I can find at home.”  
“I need to get back or I won’t make it home by nightfall. Close up if you don’t mind.”  
“Sure, I’ll see you on Wednesday.”  
Rob pulled a face but gave him a nod before heading off in the opposite direction from which the Hansons had come. Taylor watched him leave before jumping as Ezra bumped him on the arm.  
“We need to go too,” he reminded him.  
“I’ll just be a second,” Taylor promised, heading back inside the shack.


	18. Rooster

_”Returning to the real world and the actual lack of any form of United States right now…”  
“Do we even still have state borders anymore? Have you crossed any?”  
“I don’t think so. I’ve been out toward Arkansas recently and I wasn’t even sure if I was there when I was. I think they’ve pulled all the signs down.”  
“That seems unhelpful to be honest, like you’d think the military would need to find their own way around so why would ruining our roads and our signs do them any good?”  
“I’ve heard whispers about them being replaced in Korean but I haven’t seen it for myself.”  
“Hopefully that’s what they’re doing and they aren’t just leaving the roads bare. Some people can barely find their way around as it is.”  
“Are you talking about anyone in particular?”  
“None that come to mind right away, but I know that once the fuel shortage hit and people had to start walking everywhere it was hard for a lot of people. You basically have to look at your surroundings in an entirely different way, and especially if you live a ways out of town and have some long boring roads to go down – sometimes I know I’ve gotten halfway down a straight road and wondered if I was going in the right direction or not.”  
“We’ve all been there.”  
“Of course it could just be that we’re getting old, I know I’m not the only one feeling that.”  
“I don’t remember the last time I saw a gym let alone did any kind of exercise other than walking.”  
“But we don’t really have the time, do we? It takes so long to get anywhere now and between working to earn a living and the compulsory meetings the army makes us go to, along with weekly trips to the food trucks which are getting more and more dangerous… where do you find the time at all to look after yourself? Especially if you have a family to watch over too.”  
“We haven’t had one of those meetings in a while, now that you mention it.”  
“Hopefully things have settled down enough to not need them anymore. I know with my experience at the food trucks this week they might be ramping up to dish out some new laws pretty soon.”  
“There has to be a better way to hand out food portions than the way they’re doing it.”  
“Oh I agree, totally.”  
“But I get the feeling that the public’s response to the sanctions already in place and the general unrest that surrounds that whole way of living isn’t going to make it easy for anyone in a position of power to do anything _but _bring in harsher laws.”  
“I think you’re right. I think it may have gone too far already. Personally I think the easiest way would be to maybe downsize the area they concentrate on each time so that not as many people are there to cause such a rush or in my case basically a stampede last time, but that would involve a lot more planning than I think they’re willing to implement at least anytime soon.”  
“We’ve got what we’ve got, basically.”  
“Yeah.”  
“On that note, I know it’s supposed to be your turn but I’ve found a song I think a lot of us could do with hearing right now…”  
“You’re going to singlehandedly cause a riot somewhere with this one.”  
“I don’t think so, I think it’s just a reminder for everyone that we do have fighting spirit despite everything going on right now and maybe not being able to display it as much as we’d individually want to. For fear of being taken out or otherwise.”  
“Right, I could see that. So you’ve got some Alice In Chains for us?”  
“Here’s _Rooster _. Enjoy, and fight on!”_

 _“Ain’t found a way to kill me yet, my eyes burn with stinging sweat. Seems every path leads me to nowhere. Wife and kids, household pet, army green was no safe bet. The bullets scream to me from somewhere…”_  
“Is he gonna be okay?” Ezra asked on the way home, trying to ignore his rumbling stomach.  
They’d left before lunchtime and they’d be lucky to get home before dark.  
“He’ll be fine,” Taylor assured, “he just worries. I don’t think he gets recognized as often as I do.”  
“That’s kind of weird. His accent stands out around here.”  
“He’s got a lot of good people around him. I think he’ll be fine.”  
Taylor looked off into the trees at their right, unsure if he’d seen something moving or not. While it was an odd time for animals to be out they’d certainly flourished a lot more since the change. Without cars to be afraid of or hunters to hide from the fauna was starting to take back their land.  
Taylor was already wondering how hard it would be to set up a trap in the backyard in order to have some meat that hadn’t been dehydrated and preserved.  
“And us?” Ezra added after a long pause.  
“We’ve got good people around us too,” Taylor looked across at him, “we’ll be fine too.”  
“I just keep thinking… I don’t think Viggo would have died if this hadn’t happened,” Ezra went on, “so maybe more people are going to die as well. People that weren’t supposed to before.”  
“Are you worried about anyone in particular?” Taylor wasn’t quite sure how to handle this.  
“Just us, and Uncle Ike and Aunt Jess. We never hear from anyone else.”  
“I don’t know about you, but I’m choosing to believe that everyone else is fine,” Taylor tried to sway the subject a little, “there’s no reason your grandparents wouldn’t be, over in Europe. Your Aunt and Uncle interstate are probably in a similar position to what we are, and we’re not doing too bad.”  
“We lost Viggo,” Ezra frowned across at him.  
“We did, but it was a freak accident,” Taylor insisted, “it could have happened to anyone, and it did. This time we just drew the short straw.”  
“But if we hadn’t lost the war, Viggo wouldn’t have even been there. It wasn’t his classroom.”  
“I know,” Taylor was struggling, “and I know it’s easier to blame the Koreans. But we can’t fall into the hate trap. It’s what got us into this mess in the first place.”  
“I don’t hate the Koreans,” Ezra insisted, “I just wish they hadn’t come at all.”  
“I’m sure a lot of them feel the same way. They’re probably cut off from their families too, and plenty of them died in the process as well.”  
Ezra stopped walking and Taylor took the moment to look off into the trees again. He wasn’t avoiding eye contact, he was really trying to spot something.  
“What happens if another one of us dies?” Taylor could see the worry in his eyes.  
“We keep going,” Taylor insisted, “we keep going no matter what. One foot in front of the other. It’s all we can do.”  
“But-“  
“But nothing,” Taylor put his foot down, “no matter what happens, we aren’t in this alone. You’ve got another brother and two sisters depending on us to keep it together. Your cousins too. If the worst does come, we need to be there for them, right?”  
Ezra hesitated but nodded in agreement.  
“And if - God forbid - something did happen to me or your mother, you’d be running that house,” Taylor felt the need to add, “we have to know you’re capable of that.”  
“I think so,” Ezra frowned, “if I had help from Uncle Zac.”  
“I don’t think your Uncle’s going anywhere anytime soon,” Taylor put a hand on his shoulder in an effort to get him moving again, “maybe he’s the constant you can lean on if you need to.”  
“I think I’m just scared,” Ezra admitted in a quiet voice, “nothing feels right right now.”  
Taylor paused, before pulling him in for a hug. He didn’t want to mention that he’d been feeling the same for the past few days. Ezra had enough on his plate.  
“Like I said, one step at a time,” he said before pulling back, “and honestly I’d be more worried if any of this felt normal.”

 _”Walking tall machine gun man, they spit on me in my home land. Gloria sent me pictures of my boy. Got my pills against mosquito death, my buddy’s breathing his dying breath, oh God please won’t you help me make it through…”_  
“It’s about that time,” Zac sighed as he came over to the table.  
Taylor looked up from where he’d been going over prints for work, before seeing that he had his shoes on.  
“Time for…?” he was lost.  
“We need to switch water tanks, the first one just dripped it’s last drop,” Zac informed him.  
“Damn,” Taylor winced, “I don’t know how much is even in the second one.”  
“Hopefully enough to last us until the next storm comes in,” Zac headed for the back door.  
“Do you want help?” Taylor called after him, trying not to be too loud as most kids were in bed already.  
“I shouldn’t need a flashlight right?”  
“The moon should be enough,” Taylor agreed before getting back to work.  
Zac didn’t bother closing the door behind him, a cool breeze coming through that Taylor didn’t mind. He carefully made his way around to the side of the house and found where the hose was connected to the tank, not bothering to turn the tap off before disconnecting it. A few drops fell confirming the end of that particular water supply. With a sigh he turned off the tap before shifting over to connect the hose to the next tank.  
A noise from behind him made him freeze. He knew no one had followed him outside, and the neighbors weren’t close enough to have caused it. When he looked over his shoulder he realized it had come from the shed.  
In the small amount of light the moon was reflecting, he saw the door wide open and a shadow moving aside it.  
“Shit, the generator!” he cussed under his breath, dropping what he was doing and bolting.  
Whoever was there heard his footsteps and a loud clang was heard as they dropped whatever they had and ran.  
“TAY!” Zac yelled out as he took off after the shadow.  
It quickly disappeared into the trees, and wearing only flip flops Zac was wary about following. Taylor had appeared at the back door right away but had trouble finding Zac before his purple vision could kick in.  
“What is it?!” he called out, finally spotting a white shirt over toward Viggo’s grave.  
Zac tried to listen for footfalls, hearing the person well on their way into the neighbor’s yard already. It was a lost cause.  
By the time he turned back Taylor had come out to meet him.  
“Someone was in the shed,” Zac scratched his head awkwardly, “hopefully they didn’t get anything.”  
“Shit,” Taylor cussed in turn, aiming for it.  
“I’ll grab that flashlight,” Zac headed for the house instead, knowing it was going to be too hard to see in the dark.  
Before he could return, Taylor had already tripped over something. With a grimace he realized it was their second – full – bottle of fuel. Zac shining some light on the subject confirmed that he was right.  
“They were after the fuel,” Taylor relayed as Zac got closer.  
“Did they get anything else?”  
Taylor reached for the flashlight which Zac readily handed over, before heading inside to have a closer look. The shed had certainly been gone through rather roughly but he couldn’t pick out anything else that had been taken. After already taking out anything they might have been able to barter there wasn’t too much left that would have appealed to a common thief.  
“I don’t think so,” he had a second and third look around to make sure, “if they did it was nothing obvious.”  
“Bring the fuel inside just in case,” Zac suggested, “that’s the last thing we need to lose right now.”  
Taylor handed the flashlight back before collecting the bottle, seeing that it had been dented when it had been dropped but it thankfully wasn’t leaking from anywhere.   
“Maybe you should think about locking this door?” Zac suggested as he closed the door behind his brother and they began back to the house.  
“I need to find a bolt,” Taylor grumbled, “not to mention a large enough padlock.”  
First the radio shack and now his garden shed, both inside of a day. He wasn’t happy.  
“They shouldn’t be too hard to find if you ask around.”  
“Unless everyone else has the same idea.”  
“Good point.”  
They both looked up in time to see Kate watching from the window and knew that everyone awake had probably heard Zac’s yell. It was just in time for Zac to remember what he’d been doing out here in the first place.  
“Right, the water,” he diverted back to the tanks, leaving Taylor to face Kate on his own.

_”Yeah they come to snuff the rooster, yeah here come the rooster, you know he ain’t gonna die…”_


	19. Fight Song

_”You’ve got me in a fighting mood and now I want to change my song.”  
“You’re very welcome to change your song. You can play whatever you want.”  
“I keep forgetting that. Not only is this our own show, but we have zero guidelines to follow. I know there’s definitely some kids out there listening, including my own, so I won’t go overboard but I have to admit it’s kind of freeing.”  
“We could just play _Hair Of The Dog _by Nazareth on repeat if we wanted to.”  
“Which we don’t. Right?”  
“I’m not going to lie and say it hasn’t crossed my mind. Besides, there is much worse out there. Unfortunately whoever ran this place before we came along didn’t seem to stock up on anything beyond the 90’s.”  
“Yeah so anything new you’ve heard has come from our own collections, or someone has asked us to play it for them.”  
“We haven’t had a ‘new’ song yet this show. Maybe it’s time for one?”  
“I’m not sure if I even have anything. Give me time to look.”  
“We are so organized here folks. So, so organized. You wouldn’t believe how organized we are. If I could show you how organized we are… don’t laugh, you’re supposed to be finding us something to listen to.”  
“Don’t talk like him.”  
“You said to waste time. Name a better time waster?”  
“I’m not touching that one. There’s still people out there that don’t think he caused the war.”  
“Out of solidarity I won’t touch that either, but I really, really want to. Just FYI.”  
“Okay I’m going to go with something actually called _Fight Song _. This seems appropriate.”  
“By…?”  
“It’s by The Republic Tigers. Let me just…”  
“Not sure if I know it.”  
“I only heard it recently thanks to someone else so if that person is listening, thanks for saving my ass when I promised a fight song.”  
“You’ve been waiting to say that, haven’t you?”  
“Here’s _Fight Song _.”_

 _“Illegitimi non carborundum, if you cared there’d be love in the air. Pharmaceuti-government got your mind and your thoughts, can you feel where’s your spine? Evacuate now ‘cause this storm’s out for blood. Build a shelter for your kind and protect the ones you love…”_  
“Hopefully today will actually be a lazy day,” Taylor stared up at the ceiling where he lay awake the following morning.  
His back was still hurting from the long walk the day before.  
“You don’t need to go anywhere, right?” Natalie rolled over beside him, her eyes falling on his face.  
“Not unless I go looking for locks for this shed,” he sighed, “we don’t have anything laying around that we could use, do we?”  
“Not that I can think of,” she admitted, frowning as she tried to think.  
Taylor looked across at her before rolling over himself to face her.  
“I had a talk with Ezra yesterday,” he admitted, “he’s worried that more people are going to die.”  
“More people probably are,” Natalie agreed.  
“Meaning, more of us,” Taylor corrected, “he figures if it happened to Viggo it could happen to anyone.”  
“Well, it could,” Natalie pointed out, “what did you say to him?”  
“Just that we all needed to pull it together. That we weren’t in this alone,” he replied, “that Viggo’s death was a freak accident. He thinks that if we hadn’t been invaded that Viggo would still be alive.”  
“He probably would be.”  
“Yeah I don’t blame him for that one,” Taylor admitted, “it just caught me off guard. I probably wasn’t as supportive as I should have been.”  
“I’m sure you tried,” Natalie shifted a little closer to him, “he’s had to grow up very suddenly. They all have.”  
“And they’ve got a ways to go yet,” his brow rose, staring her in the eye.  
“Hopefully not too soon,” she countered, “we still need to take care of things for as long as we can. Give them as much of a childhood as we can.”  
“We can simultaneously prepare them for what’s coming while giving them time to appreciate their freedom as kids, I’m sure of it.”  
Natalie paused at that before sitting up a little.  
“What do you think is coming?” she frowned.  
“I don’t know, just whatever is,” he shrugged, not otherwise moving, “what’s happening now isn’t going to last forever. It’s going to fall either side of the blade and we just have to be ready enough to not completely freak out when it happens. Remember what happened when we first realized we were losing the war?”  
“I’m not likely to forget,” Natalie diverted her eyes.  
“That’s all I mean. We don’t want a repeat of that.”  
She understood what he was saying, she just wasn’t sure they had an easy way to do it. Especially considering the limitations they already had.  
“We’ll give it a couple of weeks,” Taylor reached over to put a gentle hand on her arm, “but I might start trying to build stuff with the boys. We might take one of the cars apart and try putting it back together or something.”  
“If you find the time,” Natalie was doubtful already.  
“We’ll make it a weekend thing,” he shrugged, “it shouldn’t be that hard to find the time, especially if they start making people stay home on weekends anyway.”  
“What have you heard?” she frowned.  
“Just rumors. Nothing solid,” he assured, “they’re just trying to work out how to deal with the food truck situation.”  
Natalie scoffed at that. She had two days to prepare herself for the next one and she wasn’t looking forward to it at all.  
“Hey,” he pulled her attention back, looking up expectantly.  
She rolled her eyes a little but leant in for a kiss. They took a moment to relish it before Natalie broke away.  
“Your breath stinks,” she smirked, wiping her mouth.  
“Sorry,” Taylor chuckled, rolling over so that he could actually get out of bed.

 _”It seems that every day we’re fighting and we’re causing bolts of lightning like a hot and cold collision in the sky. It seems that every day we’re fighting and we’re causing bolts of lightning like a hot and cold collision in the sky…”_  
Isaac was well and truly sore by the time he got to work that morning. They’d been working for seven straight days, and being amateurs of the carpentry trade they didn’t appear to be much closer to finishing the project than soon after they’d started. But a lot of kids were counting on the shelter for the coming few months and the thought at least kept them driven to keep going.  
Along with the constant threats to their designated food portions as an extra little incentive.  
He headed for registration and handed over his lanyard, despite being sure the registrar well and truly knew his face by now. Once he was ticked off as ‘present’ he headed into the worksite where he set aside his lunch and removed his hoodie before starting to stretch. He’d only been about the fifth person to arrive so their supervisors weren’t on their backs to get started just yet. Clive arrived shortly after while Isaac was still stretching but the two tried to avoid each other. The beating Isaac had gotten days earlier had set him a little on edge about causing too much of a fuss. He didn’t need the soldiers to decide to look into his history.  
Today the workmen appeared to be more on edge than usual and it took him a while to figure out why. The security, and their supervisors, had seemed to double. There were twice the amount of soldiers walking around the school and a lot of them just looked like they were there to talk. Isaac first noticed the discrepancy when a group of four approached one of the workers and asked for his ID.  
“What’s going on?” he asked aloud, completely forgetting his earlier caution.  
“Don’t know,” the man who’d been helping him measure a beam replied, turning to look over his shoulder toward the gathering, “but something’s up for sure.”  
Isaac kept his eye on them as they appeared to joke around in Korean before handing the worker’s ID back to him.  
“Spot checking by the looks,” he thought out loud.  
“We’ve got nothing to hide. They can bring it on. Waste some more of our time.”  
Isaac pulled a face at that as he tried to get back to work without drawing any attention. Hopefully they wouldn’t even come to this side of the yard.  
Unfortunately the soldiers worked their way around and Isaac could soon tell that he wouldn’t be able to avoid being checked. They were looking at everybody. Hoping that it was just to double check that the people on site were the group that were meant to be working on this particular project, he managed to keep himself calm as they approached the man he was working with.  
Unable to finish what he was doing while the man was distracted, he awkwardly stood to wait. Once one of the soldiers realized his predicament he asked for his lanyard in the pause. Isaac readily handed it over as they checked his workmate’s first. One soldier held a clipboard with what looked like a list of ID numbers that the lanyards were being checked against.  
“This will not take long,” the soldier holding Isaac’s lanyard assured as they appeared to take their time.  
“I hope not,” Isaac started to rub his shoulder again, somewhat grateful for the break.  
He was a little confused when they didn’t seem to find the other man’s ID number on the list but handed the lanyard back anyway. Isaac knew he was a part of the same group – they’d been working together for months already – so they were both definitely meant to be there. But hoping the same would at least happen with his he waited as they checked his ID against the list.  
A lot faster, the soldier tapped the lanyard against the clipboard.  
“이 하나.”  
“What is it?” Isaac frowned as the four of them suddenly focused on him.  
“우리와 함께,” one of them demanded, starting to walk away.  
“I’m sorry I don’t understand much Korean yet,” Isaac’s eyes narrowed, his heart already racing as he wondered why he’d been singled out.  
“Come with us please,” the one who’d taken his lanyard indicated for him to follow the group.  
“Is something wrong?” he followed obediently, “I am definitely supposed to be here, I’ve been here all week!”  
“That’s fine,” the soldier escorting him assured.  
It was only when Isaac reached the gates that he realized they’d actually been locked. That had never happened before, there had always just been a guard stationed there. A group of ten soldiers stood around outside the gates and all eyes focused on him as he was led out of the worksite.  
“I can’t lose this job,” Isaac started to panic again, turning back to his calmest escort, “I don’t know if I did anything wrong, but I need the work! I’ve got three kids!”  
He’d barely finished the sentence when something black suddenly covered his face and he frantically tried to pull it away.

 _”You think your fellows, co-conspirators got your back? When the fear they dispatch comes from a different path? What of them, opponent ready to pass? When the cloud clears we’ll be standing here…”_  
“That’s not even a word!” River scorned, reaching for the tiles.  
“Hey! Don’t touch!” Taylor insisted, “it is so a word. Look it up.”  
“Oh yeah? How?!”  
“Good point,” Taylor suddenly realized the flaw in their plan for a Scrabble tournament.  
“I can ask at the school if anyone has an old dictionary they don’t mind lending us,” Natalie was watching from afar, “but that means you have to wait until probably Tuesday to see one.”  
“What if we can’t all agree on a word, we just agree that we can’t use it?” Kate suggested.  
“Okay!” River agreed right away.  
“Then I’m going to say that firetruck isn’t a word,” Taylor’s brow rose as he pointed to it.  
“That’s not fair! It totally is a word!” River objected.  
“I think it’s two words, so it shouldn’t count.”  
“We might need a referee,” Kate looked over at Natalie.  
“But then how do you know she won’t just side with someone she knows she can easily beat?” Taylor pointed out.  
“Like you’re not already trying to rig the game?” Kate scorned.  
“I think he should take firetruck back too. That got too many points,” Penny pulled a face, unhappy with the mass of tiles she had left.  
“But it’s not fair! The rules aren’t hard!” River insisted.  
“If you can’t play nicely, _all_ of you,” Natalie looked between the four of them, “then I will play referee and I’ll call this game.”  
“Then tell them to play nice!” River insisted before they heard a sudden knock at the door.  
Taylor smirked as they all automatically fell quiet while Natalie went to see who it was. Zac watched after her from where he was sitting at the table trying to work out which appliances needed the few batteries they had left.   
Natalie quickly appeared again without having opened the door, her face pale.  
“Tay?” she got his attention in a hushed tone.  
His face fell the moment he saw hers and he quickly got to his feet.  
“Something wrong?” Zac asked as they passed him.  
Taylor shot him a worried glance which prompted Zac to double check where the rest of the kids were. When Taylor got to the door he could easily see the shadows of at least three soldiers, their hats giving them away. They’d just started to knock again when he opened the door. One of them awkwardly lowered his hand.  
“Can we help you gentlemen?” Taylor looked between them, now seeing that they weren’t alone.  
There was an armoured truck parked at the end of the drive that they hadn’t heard pull up and another small group of soldiers stood by it, armed with rifles.  
“Jordan Taylor Hanson,” one of them was looking at a clipboard, “ID please.”  
Taylor frowned but reached for his lanyard again. Before he could hand it over Natalie took hold of his arm so hard that he knew it was going to bruise. He froze.  
“They said Taylor,” she said under her breath.  
Taylor looked back at the soldiers, suddenly trying to remember if she was right. None of their expressions gave anything away. But quickly replaying the moment in his head and realizing that she was right, he slammed the door in their faces.


	20. Rock Of Ages

_”So now we’re definitely in a fighting mood after that.”  
“Which is probably a good thing. We need to keep up the fighting spirit. I’m not sure that pop music would be quite as successful in speaking to the masses.”  
“Really, we don’t know that this is either.”  
“Well it’s got me going.”  
“Although I will say I got stopped on the street this week by an avid listener, so there’s definitely more people out there listening than just our own friends and family.”  
“Hello to you folks, I hope you’re out there fighting the good fight.”  
“I’m sure they are.”  
“I’m taking us back to the old rockers with the next one, fair warning.”  
“Oh no.”  
“Def Leppard.”  
“Right.”  
“You like Def Leppard, right?”  
“I don’t think anyone who’s ever considered themselves a rock musician would ever admit to not liking them. Not to mention they were friends of friends.”  
“Kind of like Bon Jovi, right?”  
“I’m not going to get into the politics of rock culture, I’m just here to press play and hope that people appreciate it.”  
“And you’re here for the commentary or I’d be sitting here talking to myself.”  
“You never know, you might be the favorite DJ. I haven’t gotten any feedback either way.”  
“It’s probably hard to pick a favorite when they don’t even know our names. Can you imagine that conversation? I like the one that plays the rock songs. Which one is that? The one that plays the weird new stuff. Guess again. How do we differentiate?”  
“The accents, probably.”  
“Okay I didn’t think of that part. Though I feel like I’m starting to lose mine being so far from home.”  
“At least you’ve got some great friends behind you.”  
“Present company excluded of course.”  
“F- screw you.”  
“I’m gonna play this song and you can’t stop me.”  
“I’m not trying to stop you.”  
“Good.”_

_“Alright, I got something to say. It’s better to burn out than fade away…”_  
“ _RUN!_ ” Taylor screamed out, holding his place at the door knowing they were about to start ramming it.  
Natalie bolted for the living area in order to round up the kids. Both Zac and Kate were already on it, rushing them toward the basement. In seconds they were out of Taylor’s sight and he had to focus on the yells coming from outside instead. All he had to do was hold them off just long enough.  
“Open this door! Or we fire!” he could hear one of them.  
“Come on,” Taylor closed his eyes, trying to count in his head without going too fast.  
He knew from their drills that it would take about thirty seconds for everyone to be clear.  
There was another bang on the door a moment before Zac reappeared.  
“What are you doing?!” Taylor was really starting to panic now, especially after seeing shadows of the rifles crossing the floor.  
“They’ve got a better chance of getting away without me, and you know it,” Zac insisted, “if they’re here for us they’re only going to keeping hunting for me. Maybe if we give in right away they can get a longer head start. Maybe they’ll even let them go altogether.”  
“They need your help,” Taylor shook his head, his eyes wide.  
“So do you, and I’m not leaving you.”  
The first shots were fired at the door and Taylor darted forward out of the way. They could hear the wood splintering on the other side but nothing had made it through yet.  
“There’s no sense in both of us going down!” Taylor insisted, “if even one of us can make it…”  
“There’s no time now,” Zac knew that running now would only lead them to the family.  
They both flinched back as an automatic weapon was used on the door. The locks began to come apart, the wood splintering inward and forcing them to shield themselves. When the door finally caved in it was with a loud bang.  
Both brothers raised their hands in surrender the moment they saw the multiple guns trained on them.   
“바닥에! 바닥에!” the shouts came in Korean and Zac had no idea what they meant.  
“On the ground, on the ground!” Taylor rushed to translate, the two of them quickly falling to their knees before being surrounded.  
When Taylor was roughly pushed down onto his stomach, Zac followed suit without being told. Two of the soldiers fanned out to quickly search the house.  
The next time Taylor looked up he locked eyes with one of the soldiers and instantly recognized him. He belonged to the troop that gave him a ride every Wednesday night. He diverted his eyes and silently prayed that it wouldn’t be brought up.  
The two were kept on the floor as the search was done, both brothers hoping with everything that their families wouldn’t be found. The few minutes it took for them to be acknowledged again were excruciating.  
“You have ten people registered at this house,” they could only see the soldier’s boots from where they were, “from age 35 down to 2 years old. Where are they?”  
“They’re not here,” Taylor didn’t look up, “they went out for the day.”  
“Where is the woman who answer the door?”  
“There wasn’t one. You saw my brother.”  
Zac had left his long hair out and it was the first thing Taylor could come up with.   
“다시 검색!” the soldier ordered his men.  
Apart from the four left standing over the brothers with their rifles still aimed, the rest fanned out to search the house again.  
“Why aren’t they shooting us?” Zac was more wary than scared at this point.  
“I don’t know,” Taylor had an idea but didn’t want to admit it just yet.  
“ID!” one of the men kicked Zac in the side, “where is your ID?!”  
Taylor looked up toward the door to see that the lanyards had been collected. They had his family’s names and photos now.  
“I don’t have one,” Zac responded, not at all confident in his answer.  
“Why do you not?”  
“Because I never registered.”  
“You are Zachary Walker Hanson?”  
“Yes,” he confirmed, making Taylor cringe.  
“가져가,” the leader muttered to his men, “그들은 둘 다 Hanson.”  
Both looked up again when their name was said but the soldiers had already come to collect them from the floor. Once on their feet they both eyed the rifles before seeing something black in two of the soldiers’ hands. Zac was the first to realize they were hoods.  
“Where are you taking us?!” he quickly demanded, catching Taylor off guard, “why are we going anywhere?!”  
He was ignored, and Taylor watched as they quickly covered his head before coming for him as well.  
“Ike is not going to like this,” he closed his eyes before his own hood went on.

 _”Rise up gather round, rock this place to the ground. Burn it up let’s go for broke, watch the night go up in smoke – rock on, rock on, drive me crazier. No serenade no fire brigade just pyromania…”_  
Neither Taylor nor Zac had their hoods removed the entire ride, and both were far too wary of trying to take it off themselves. They knew the likelihood of getting shot was high. Zac was still confused as to why they hadn’t been executed then and there, but Taylor kept thinking of something Rob had told him the week before.  
The ride felt surprisingly long, considering it would have taken them so much longer to walk it, but with their adrenaline pumping it was hard to tell exactly. When they were pulled from the truck they could still feel hot daylight raining down on the hoods but it wasn’t long before they felt themselves being led indoors.  
The sounds around them were anything but comforting, but from them they could distinguish exactly where they’d been taken. Still blindfolded the brothers were led through what felt like a maze of corridors and locked gates before finally coming to rest in a much quieter area. A heavy door opened and once the hoods were pulled away they had half a second to comprehend the size of the cell they were being thrown into before they found themselves in it already.  
The door closed behind them with laughter from the soldiers. The mood from their side had been considerably more joyous since they’d picked the brothers up.  
“HEY!” Zac called back right away, running for the small window in the door, “what are we doing here?! You can’t just leave us here forever!”  
“Maybe that’s the plan?” Taylor was looking around, already feeling his heart beating almost out of his chest, “maybe they’re saving bullets now.”  
Zac couldn’t see far down the corridor, and across from their cell was simply another. The door sat open showing that it was vacant.  
Taylor took a seat on the only bed in the cell, closing his eyes as he tried to comprehend that in all likelihood _this was it_. Zac grunted when he turned back to take in the cell. There was a tiny window to the outside that they might have been able to fit an arm through and not enough room for the two of them to stand abreast between the bed and the other wall. It appeared to be an isolation cell really only fit for a single prisoner.  
“So now what?” he thought aloud, not really expecting an answer.  
“This is it,” Taylor didn’t look up, “we’re never going to see them again. Any of them.”  
Zac stared down at him before turning back to test that the door was actually locked. He figured it didn’t hurt to try.  
“You should have run,” Taylor shook his head, “I could have distracted them long enough. You had a chance and instead-“  
“What? I killed myself?” Zac wasn’t in the mood for any of it, “how do you know I didn’t make my mind up about this months ago?”  
“It was senseless,” Taylor finally looked up.  
“It was what I was always going to do,” Zac frowned, “if anything, you should have been the one to make a run for it.”  
Taylor scoffed at that.  
“What’s the difference?” Zac demanded, “whether it was you or me, we both would have been on the run, we both would have been instantly recognizable. They’re all far better off without us weighing them down.”  
“I doubt they think that.”  
“I don’t care what they think,” Zac was blunt, “and what does it matter now anyway? It’s done. We’re here. We’re… momentarily still alive but not for long I’m sure.”  
He paused.  
“It’s been five seconds and I’m pretty sure the quiet in here is going to drive me mad before they can kill us.”  
Taylor wasn’t sure if it had been a joke or not and didn’t react.   
“Hopefully they can get word to Ike and he can get out of town,” Zac scratched his head as he went back to the door to look through it again.   
He couldn’t even hear footsteps in the distance. They’d just been left in what looked and felt like a solid concrete block at the end of a corridor with no one else inside of hearing range. He started to wonder what it would have been like to be here alone without Taylor but quickly changed his thought pattern. This was bad enough.  
“How did they find us anyway?” Zac frowned to himself, “how did they even know that I’d be there?”  
“I don’t know,” Taylor shook his head, already focusing on it.  
“Did you notice anyone following you home? Did anyone approach you? Did you piss anyone off?”  
Taylor tried to think. He could say yes to all three. He’d had the odd feeling of he and Ezra being followed back from the radio station just the day before. There’d been the guy outing him at his job that week. He’d been recognized at least three times, including at the food truck and at the printer.  
“I don’t think so,” he lied.  
It didn’t really matter now anyhow. Any one of them could have done it and they’d never be any the wiser.  
“This just came out of nowhere,” Zac shook his head.  
He wanted to sit down, but he didn’t want to crowd his brother. He could tell he was anxious already.  
“I mean we always knew when it happened that it was going to happen fast, but you know you spend months preparing for something and when it finally comes…”  
“It’s nothing like what you expected,” Taylor finished for him.  
“Yeah.”  
Zac was about to go on when they heard their first noise from down the corridor and he went back to the door. The soldiers were returning, and while he wasn’t sure how many had been there before he was sure there were suddenly more.  
“They’re coming back,” he stated the obvious, making Taylor tense all the same.  
He stood from the bed just in case, but stayed against the wall. It was cool to the touch, and he knew if they were going to spend the night there the temperatures might border on freezing.  
“What’s going on?!” Zac called out as the soldiers got closer, before suddenly jumping backward as he caught sight of another rifle.  
They could hear the door being opened and before either of them could say anything else Isaac was thrown in with them.  
“Ike!” Taylor ducked forward to catch him as he stumbled.  
By the time Zac made sure he’d been caught the door was closed on them again.  
“Ike are you okay?” Taylor was checking him over.  
“Yeah,” he turned to look back at the door, “but that was not fun.”  
“Just wait for the main event,” Zac quipped.


	21. Lonely Is The Night

_”I see we’re sticking to the 80’s theme again with this next one.”  
“Why break something that’s not broken?”  
“I would agree but I’d like to point out, once again to our listeners, that this is more of a crime of opportunity.”  
“A crime?”  
“You know what I mean. We are surrounded by 70’s and 80’s music here.”  
“I see it as more of being able to share music from our childhoods that we ourselves might not have heard since said childhoods.”  
“Maybe yours, I didn’t hear all that much of this stuff.”  
“Well you are a tad younger than I am I guess…”  
“And we travelled a lot, so most of what I heard was what our parents had on cassette which was well before this era.”  
“Well my friend, I am more than happy to guide you through what you have missed.”  
“I can tell.”  
“And a little more. You have a lot to catch up on.”  
“I’m pretty sure I’ve caught up on a lot in my time already, but I’ll never turn down some decent rock and or roll.”  
“We probably wouldn’t get along as well as we do if you did.”  
“I probably wouldn’t even be here if I did. I would have taken one look at the music selection and gone ‘nope, next place!’”  
“What happened to your music collection by the way?”  
“Same as what happened to all our instruments. They were destroyed. Apart from what we could save.”  
“What did you manage to save?”  
“Just small things. I think my brother has a guitar somewhere. I got rid of the tambourines just because they’re more likely to attract attention, but I think I still have a few harmonicas and a small keyboard somewhere. There’s plenty of places to hide stuff at my place.”  
“We weren’t quite so lucky I’m afraid.”  
“I’m sorry to hear that.”  
“I didn’t manage to save any keys, but I think I also saved a guitar somewhere. I hid it and promptly forgot where I’d hidden it because we were trying to just save so much at once the first time the raids came through.”  
“I get what you mean, we had a similar experience.”  
“But hey, at least we’re still alive. They could have just taken us with the instruments.”  
“That’s true, and we’re all pretty glad they didn’t.”  
“Understatement.”  
“So which song are you…?”  
“I’ll get it on so we can keep this ball rolling. It’s almost time to say goodnight already. This is _Lonely Is The Night _by our boy Billy Squier.”_

 _“Lonely is the night, when you find yourself alone your demons come to light and your mind is not your own. Lonely is the night when there’s no one left to call, you feel the time is right – say the writing’s on the wall…”_  
“What happened?” Taylor was determined to focus on his older brother as opposed to his claustrophobia, only getting worse now that a third person meant less room again.  
“They grabbed me from the school,” he’d already worked out how little room they had and had chosen to sit on the floor, “they went through everybody checking their IDs. Until I got here and saw you I didn’t even know what I was in trouble for.”  
“Early career choices, apparently,” Zac offered.  
“They turned up at the house with a truck full of soldiers,” Taylor returned to his spot on the bed once he knew Isaac was okay, “Nat and Kate barely got out in time.”  
“I have no idea if Nicole’s okay,” the worry showed in Isaac’s eyes, “I don’t know if they went to the house first, and that’s how they knew to go to the worksite. I don’t know anything. I don’t know how they found me.”  
“Has anyone recognized you lately?” Zac jumped on again, making Taylor blush slightly, “if someone dobbed you in and they figured out your middle name that might be how they found Tay.”  
“If anyone did I didn’t pick up on it,” Isaac shook his head, “I’ve only even talked about the radio a couple of times but that was with people who I’ve known since this whole thing started.”  
Taylor quickly hushed him, worried now that someone might be listening in. If the army didn’t know about the radio he figured they might have a chance to fight their impending executions.  
“What does it matter if we’re dead anyway?” Zac scorned when he heard.  
“We might be, but not everyone involved is,” Taylor hit back.  
“You don’t know that.”  
“We don’t know otherwise!”  
“Did you do something?” Isaac’s eyes were on Taylor, “did you say something on air? Did you talk to someone on the road home Wednesday night?”  
“No! Not that I can think of,” Taylor insisted, “I’ve been as careful as always.”  
“You weren’t distracted at all?”  
Taylor’s face only went more red as he diverted his eyes.  
“Anything could have happened,” Zac attempted a compromise, “and if what we’ve heard is accurate we’re probably never going to find out. They’re either going to leave us in here to rot or take us straight out to the gallows.”  
Taylor closed his eyes, trying again to forget how close the walls actually were. 

_”It’s a high time to fight, when the walls are closing in. Call it what you like, it’s time you got to win. Lonely, lonely, lonely, your spirit’s sinking down… you find you’re not the only stranger in this town…”_  
“Where are we going?”  
“Keep your voice down,” Ezra hit his brother on the shoulder.  
He figured they were already making enough noise as the group crushed twigs and leaves on their way through the trees. The rest of them travelled in silence with Natalie at the lead and Kate taking up the rear with the smaller kids.  
They were walking for a long time before they finally came to a clearing where Natalie made them all stop. Without their lanyards they weren’t supposed to be out in the open and Natalie knew the entire family was now in as much danger as Zac and Kate had ever been.  
“Junia!” she whispered for her niece to join her up front.  
“What’s the plan?” Kate came forward to ask, wondering why her daughter had already been singled out, “what are we doing here?”  
“I have an idea, but I don’t know if it’ll work,” Natalie replied, “we’re not going to make it all the way to Jess and Joe’s before nightfall so I’m trying something else.”  
“And you need Junia?” Kate asked as Natalie took the girl’s hand.  
“They’ll recognize her before they recognize me,” Natalie assured, “wait here.”  
She looked both ways to make sure no one was around before rushing Junia across the clearing toward the far road. Once there she gave Junia’s hand a squeeze as they continued to walk normally.  
“Where are we going?” Junia asked her, now not so worried about staying quiet.  
“You don’t remember this place?” Natalie glanced down at her.  
Junia concentrated for a moment before a look of recognition crossed her face. Natalie smiled when she saw it before leading her up the steps of the familiar house.  
She took a deep breath to work herself up before knocking.  
The same woman answered, and she only looked them over. Natalie wasn’t sure if they were recognized or not.  
“We need your help,” she came out with, her voice starting to shake as she suddenly struggled to keep herself composed.  
The gravity of what had happened had picked an inopportune time to make itself known.  
The woman opened the door and ushered them inside, taking a quick look behind them to check if anyone had seen. Natalie managed to hold herself together enough to make it into their kitchen area where the old man sat at the table.  
“What’s this?” he looked up from his glasses.  
With Natalie unable to respond now, the woman took Junia by the shoulders.  
“Would you mind looking after this one for a moment? I need to have a word with her mother.”  
“Aunt,” Natalie choked out a correction, “I’m her Aunt.”  
“Sorry about that. What’s your name, honey?”  
“Junia,” she responded, feeling awkward now that Natalie was starting to tear up.  
“This is Errol. He’ll look after you for a moment, okay?” the woman smiled warmly down at her before the man indicated for Junia to join him at the table.  
Once she had the woman took Natalie back to a small living area where she sat her on a couch and handed her some tissues.  
“Thank you,” Natalie took some right away, “but we don’t have much time.”  
“I’m sure there’s time enough,” the woman’s warm demeanor had vanished already, “you need to tell me what’s wrong.”  
“My husband was arrested,” Natalie swallowed hard, “and his brother too. They would have taken us but we managed to escape. There’s more of us over in the woods.”  
“Why was he arrested?”  
“He’s… or he was, a musician. They both were,” Natalie glanced up at her, regretting it instantly when she saw the stern look on the woman’s face, “my husband was living under a different name when the laws came in and the hunt started. We thought we had a chance. But they found them.”  
“What’s your husband’s name?”  
“Taylor. Taylor Hanson. But he was going by Jordan, which is his first name,” Natalie quickly explained, “he has another brother doing the same thing. We don’t know if he’s safe either, and it would take hours to walk to his house to find out.”  
“What was your plan?” the woman asked, “if you knew this might come, you had to have a plan. What do you do next?”  
“Regroup at my sister in law’s,” Natalie shrugged, “after that I don’t know. I don’t even know how we’re going to eat tonight.”  
“And what would you like our help with?”  
“I don’t know,” Natalie admitted, on the verge of crying again, “you were on the way and I just figured you’d know what it was like to hide something so important and to maybe have that taken away…”  
Her voice broke and she couldn’t continue. The woman stared down at her as she wiped her eyes before standing from where she’d been leaning over the couch.  
“Wait here,” she insisted, heading back down the hall.  
Natalie took the break to try and compose herself again. It had all happened so fast. Would she ever see Taylor again? Was a panicked scream the last thing she and the kids would ever hear from him?  
She could hear the couple talking quietly down the hall and wondered what Junia might be overhearing. They weren’t even sure if they could trust these people, all Natalie knew was that they’d helped Junia without asking anything in return and that they must have had some kind of connection to the resistance.   
She didn’t have to wait long for the woman to return.  
“How many of you are there?” she asked, Junia following close behind her and making Natalie pause.  
“Me and my sister,” Natalie cleared her throat, “and including Junia eight children from two to fifteen.”  
“And you don’t have your lanyards?”  
Natalie shook her head.  
“They would have them by now,” she confirmed.  
“Stay here just a moment love,” the woman smiled down at Junia before heading back down the hall.  
Natalie reached out for her and she came to sit in her lap.  
“Not much longer,” she assured the girl, giving her a tight hug.

 _”There’s danger out tonight, the man is on the prowl. Get the dynamite, the boys are set to howl. Lonely is the night when you hear the voices call, are you ready for a fight? Do you wanna take it all?”_  
Zac was the first to realize that something was wrong and he quickly skidded across the floor to land at Taylor’s feet.  
“Tay? Tay?!” he grabbed his hands and squeezed them tightly, making his brother open his eyes for the first in a long time, “deep breaths. Just take a few deep breaths.”  
“I can’t breathe in here, there’s no air,” Taylor managed to gasp out, the urgency drawing Isaac’s attention from the opposite wall.  
“There’s plenty of air,” Zac insisted as he stared him in the eye, “you see that window?”  
He pointed up to the tiny hole in the wall.  
“That’s a direct line to the outdoors. There’s plenty of air coming in. You just need to remind your lungs that that’s what’s happening.”  
Taylor closed his eyes again, struggling to get air in.   
“Hey,” Zac pulled his arms a little to get his attention again, “look me in the eye.”  
He waited patiently until Taylor managed to.  
“Breathe with me, okay?” he prompted before taking a deep breath in.  
He waited for Taylor to do the same before slowly breathing out with him. Isaac watched them closely, unsure if it was going to work. They couldn’t exactly open the door and if his brother had some kind of heart attack he doubted their captors would care all that much. It would just make their job a third easier.  
“And in…” Zac continued his breathing lesson, “and out… see? Plenty of air. It might stink like crazy but it’s still air.”  
Taylor couldn’t laugh at the joke because he was concentrating too hard. When Zac had gotten him into a steady rhythm he was still afraid to let go of his hands in case he lost track. Zac stayed with him and stared him in the eye the entire time. It felt like forever before he was able to bring his heartrate down enough to nod.  
“I’m okay,” he assured, not entirely confident in the statement himself.  
“Just to be sure we’re going to do this a while longer,” Zac insisted, not letting him go yet.  
Taylor nodded, finally breaking eye contact. He kept his head down as he tried to control his thoughts more than anything else at this point. His chest was still tight but he could finally feel air in his lungs again.  
“Not to add to the drama or anything,” Isaac eventually spoke up, “but someone’s coming.”  
“Hopefully it’s food,” Zac tried to stay positive, hoping it wouldn’t set Taylor off again.  
Taylor dropped Zac’s hands as he felt his adrenaline starting to pump for a different reason. The thud of boots on concrete proved a group of soldiers were definitely headed their way. Considering it was nearing nightfall Taylor gathered it wasn’t to take them out to the gallows.  
After making sure Taylor was going to be okay Zac got to his feet in time for the door to open. The first thing they saw were rifles aimed into the cell. Isaac couldn’t help but think they were just going to start firing at any second.  
“Jordan Taylor Hanson,” the only unarmed soldier looked between them.  
He was a different soldier to the one who’d brought them in, and Taylor quickly realized he didn’t know which one he was.  
“What do you want?” Zac demanded for him.  
“We need to ask some questions,” the leader’s English was good, “you need to come with us.”  
“About what?” Taylor asked from the bed, “what’s left to talk about?”  
“Are you Jordan Taylor Hanson?” the soldier was looking between he and Zac now.  
“I am,” Taylor confirmed, Zac instantly wishing he hadn’t.  
With a hand signal one of the armed soldiers came into the cell. Isaac quickly pulled his legs in so they wouldn’t trip and Zac grudgingly stepped aside. Taylor was roughly pulled up by the arm and dragged from the cell.  
“What is this about?! Why are you separating us?!” Zac was back on the attack the moment they were clear, “what the _hell_ is going on?!”  
Taylor was thrown into the waiting arms of two more soldiers as the door closed and bolted on his brothers, despite there being at least four rifles stopping him from making a run for it anyway.   
“Come with us,” their leader gave Taylor a nod before leading the group away.  
Taylor looked back to the door to see Zac looking through the window, both already wondering if this would be the last time they saw each other. But it lasted half a second before one of the soldiers grabbed his shirt to pull him away.


	22. Beautiful Day

_”I’ve got the perfect way to lift some spirits of our listeners.”  
“I hope you’re about to play what I think you’re about to play.”  
“Every show we try and play something a little out of left field. I think last week we played _House Of Fun _just for a break from the depressing. This week this song isn’t that far out of our ordinary but it’s certainly one that speaks to seeing the brighter side of life and focusing on the beauty of the everyday.”  
“You are playing what I think you’re playing.”  
“I think we could all take a message from this song today, and all week, and every coming day really. Our lives could collectively be turning into the worst hell we could imagine but there’s always, _always _going to be a little spark of light somewhere – you just have to find it.”  
“It’s not always about knowing where to look, either.”  
“No and it’s different for everybody. You might be slaving away on a building site and look up and notice a gorgeous sunset. You could do something to make your kid laugh. You might notice a stray animal that hasn’t come out of hiding in years bringing its young out onto the roads now. There are so many things out there to remind us of what we’re fighting for. There are so many things just there to remind us that life will carry on and that all of this chaos is temporary.”  
“Personally I like to look for things growing in the cracks in the pavement. Not even flowers, just weeds. It’s like nature is slowly trying to take our country back while it can. Almost like it’s seeing its chance to make the Earth pure again without our influence.”  
“That’s a good place to start for anyone who isn’t sure.”  
“But even simpler than that, nothing beats the sound of heavy rain while you’re falling asleep.”  
“Unless you know you have to work in it the next day and you can’t just run to your car.”  
“Well there is that I guess.”  
“Particularly with the warmer weather approaching, I think there’ll be a lot more in the way of animals and vegetation around that might be able to put a smile on someone’s dial.”  
“I don’t doubt it for a second, and if that’s not your thing maybe just take a moment out of your day to appreciate all the hard work you’ve been doing – volunteered or otherwise. I know it’s hard to feel appreciated at the moment with some of the labor we’re having to do as the economy changes around us but it’s perfectly okay to know and be happy with having done your best in whatever you’re doing.”  
“Totally.”  
“We should probably stop talking about it and get to the song.”  
“It’s ready. Here’s U2.”_

 _“The heart is a bloom, shoots up through the stony ground. There’s no room, no space to rent in this town. You’re out of luck and the reason that you had to care, the traffic is stuck and you’re not moving anywhere…”_  
“Go to this address. Take your children there.”  
Natalie took the sheet of paper the woman handed over. It was an address complete with a simple map. It looked to only be about three blocks away.  
“What is it?” she looked up again, letting Junia slide from her lap.  
“The trio that lives here will be able to help you much better than we could. You should be able to have a new lanyard made under a different name so that you can walk around out in the open too.”  
“A new lanyard?” Natalie frowned, “but how? They have our pictures.”  
“The patrols check ID numbers, they don’t carry photo references with them. It would be too much paperwork for them,” the woman spoke as if Natalie should have known already, “make sure you don’t all travel at once. Groups of three or less are less likely to be stopped.”  
“Thank you,” Natalie was sincere, despite feeling like she’d already overstayed her welcome.  
“Good luck,” the woman stood back so they could see themselves out, “tell them Sierra and Errol sent you.”  
The sun was almost set by the time Natalie and Junia made it back to the group, and the younger ones were already complaining of empty stomachs. Keeping Sierra’s suggestion in mind they broke up into three groups. Natalie made sure Penny and Ezra being the eldest were part of the group without an adult and warned them to not lose sight of her as she took River and Willa first. Shepherd offered himself up to go with his cousins and Kate was left with her daughters and youngest son. Carrying Lucille, they hoped it wouldn’t technically count as more than three.  
On the walk Natalie couldn’t help but continuously look behind her, despite not meeting any vehicles on the road. Ezra, Penny and Shepherd remained in sight but she couldn’t see Kate behind them. When Natalie thought she’d finally found the house there was still just enough sun to not be worried about being found out after the nationwide curfew.  
She knocked apprehensively, already hearing a lot of noise from inside. Wondering if they’d even hear her knock over it she debated trying to be louder before the door suddenly swung open.  
“Yes?” a woman about her age was mid-laughter as she answered.  
It was such an odd sight Natalie was lost for words for a moment.  
“Can I help you?” the woman tried again, brow raised.  
“Yes, sorry,” Natalie caught herself, “Sierra and Errol sent us. There’s ten of us seeking refuge for the night.”  
The woman hesitated and Natalie realized she was chewing gum. She looked past her as if to see where the rest of the group was.  
“We were told not to travel together,” Natalie quickly explained, “they’ll be here soon.”  
“Want to wait out here or come inside?” the woman offered.  
“Inside, please,” Natalie felt embarrassed to ask.  
The woman readily held the door open, and Natalie wondered at such a different reception. But once they stepped inside the house it almost felt like an entirely different world. The house was very well lit and covered in color. The ambiance was festive, as if they’d walked in on a birthday party. The woman indicated for them to wait in an alcove before disappearing toward the rear of the house where they started to hear raised voices. Natalie pulled Willa in to her side and warned River against snooping too far, knowing that he already wanted to.  
It wasn’t long before another knock came, and Natalie quickly ushered the three into the house with her.   
“What did we miss?” Ezra asked.  
“Not much,” Natalie assured, “is your Aunt behind you?”  
“Yeah we didn’t see anyone out there.”  
“Good,” Natalie looked up as the woman returned, two men who looked borderline drunk accompanying her this time.  
“Oh how many kids do you have?” she seemed to perk up even further.  
“Don’t mind her,” the taller of the two men extended a hand, “I’m Tony, and you are…?”  
“Natalie,” she shook his hand, still feeling awkward.  
“Great. This is Robin and Calvin,” he introduced.  
“How old are you?” Robin was already leaning over to ask Willa.  
“This is Ezra,” Natalie felt the need to introduce him first, “my eldest. My sister in law is on her way with a few more.”  
“How many altogether?” Calvin asked, a slight slur in his words.  
“Ten of us,” Ezra replied for her, stepping up already.  
Calvin whistled to himself.  
“What happened?” Tony looked concerned already.  
“My husband was arrested,” Natalie quickly explained, glad already for the bright distractions that were stopping her from breaking down again.  
“Who’s your husband?”  
“You’re talking to Natalie Hanson you moron,” Robin scolded from over her shoulder, “her husband is Taylor Hanson, like _Mmmbop_ Hanson.”  
“Oh…” Tony seemed to click.  
“Wait isn’t he the one that-?”  
Tony quickly cut Calvin off before a third knock distracted them all. Robin quickly answered to a very worried Kate.  
“Oh my gosh!” Robin almost squealed at the sight of Lucille, “she’s so _cute_!”  
Kate gave Natalie a questioning glance as the last of them were ushered inside.  
“Are you guys hungry?” Calvin asked once the door was closed.  
“Starving,” Natalie admitted, “it was around lunch that they came.”  
“Follow him,” Tony insisted before Calvin walked away, “have something to eat and we’ll get the kids set up, then we’ll talk.”  
“Thank you,” Natalie collected Willa’s hand again, watching as Robin seemed to purposely pull herself away from Lucille so that Kate could follow behind.

 _”You’re on the road, but you’ve got no destination. You’re in the mud in the maze of her imagination. You love this town even if that doesn’t ring true, you’ve been all over and it’s been all over you…”_  
Because he wasn’t wearing a hood this time, Taylor was able to see the actual expanse of the prison they’d been brought to. While they did seem to be so far away from everyone, when he actually left the area the cell was in the prison seemed to be full of people.  
It was a surprise, considering what they’d heard of the army readily executing people. But at the same time the realization that there were so many prisoners on top of those that had already lost their lives gave an explanation as to why the population already seemed so decreased.  
Some of the cells Taylor passed were crammed so full of people that their limbs were sticking out. He couldn’t understand how they were surviving the hot days in there. At one point he thought he heard someone calling his name but it was too hard to focus on any one person as they kept him moving.  
They came to an open area with a concrete slab in the center, which Taylor guessed had previously been some kind of dining hall setup. But the sight of an adapted iron maiden against the wall at the right gave away its current use and he automatically dug his heels into the concrete. Because he was larger than all of them it took three soldiers to move him again.  
“What is this? What kind of questions are you asking?!” he demanded, fighting them all the way to the slab, “do we even get to defend ourselves?! We’ve been working honest jobs! We don’t even practise music anymore! Isn’t that what you wanted?!”  
Even the threats from the rifles didn’t stop him fighting their attempts to lift him onto the slab. The soldiers were soon calling for help from outside.  
“We have done nothing wrong,” he looked their leader in the eye, hands pressed against the concrete to stop himself from being lifted, “we changed like you wanted us to. Like you ordered us to. Why do we have to pay for this still?!”  
“This is not about that,” the leader calmly stated as more soldiers ran into the room.  
Taylor instantly knew he was outnumbered. The hands of up to seven soldiers were now grabbing for him. He was too weak to fight them all off, and as his back hit the hard surface he could already feel the stark contrast between its solidity and his shivers.  
Straps were abruptly tied around his ankles as he felt someone removing his boots.  
“Then what is it about?” he had to ask, already wondering if this was it.  
Was he going to die in a dark room surrounded by angry faces he didn’t even know?  
“You will tell us who your partner is,” the leader announced, staring down as the soldiers worked around him.  
“What do you mean?” Taylor frowned, trying to sit up.  
They knew that Natalie was his wife, but the question gave him hope that they’d successfully gotten away in time. If they wanted to know where she was…  
He felt straps tighten around his ankles as they were all anchored below the slab. The sound of metal on metal seemed to clang around him.  
“Your partner,” the leader reiterated, “you work with him. 라디오에서.”  
Taylor only looked confused. He didn’t recognize the words that had been used. As the soldiers stepped back once they were satisfied he’d been restrained their leader began to pace.  
“You still play music…” he began almost villain-like, “only you play it in a different way. You do it in secret but so that everyone can hear.”  
Taylor’s face lost color as his eyes followed him. They wanted him to give up Rob.  
“To play music is a crime. To play with others is a crime. You work with a man to play this music. You tell us who he is and we will make this easy for you.”  
“I have my doubts,” Taylor had to work to keep himself calm, “it sounds like you’re going to kill us anyway. Why would I help you kill more?”  
The leader gave a soldier on the other side of Taylor a nod. Before he could look to see what he was about to do a heavy cloth covered his face and he felt someone take hold of his hair. Not a sound made it out before water was poured onto the cloth and Taylor had to start gasping for air.

_”It’s a beautiful day. Don’t let it get away, it’s a beautiful day…”_


	23. I Bet My Life

_”So there’s no treaty this week…”  
“Thank God. Wait - are we still allowed to say that?”  
“Probably not when you think about it.”  
“This is definitely going to be a change that will take a while to get used to. Which usually wouldn’t be so much of a problem but I’m sure they’re just going to implement some kind of… I don’t know ‘instant execution’ rule if they catch you saying shit like that.”  
“I wouldn’t put it past them. They already have that kind of power over other things.”  
“Like music.”  
“Exactly like music. I mean I don’t know how accurate the rumors are but I’ve heard stories already of people not so much being hunted down like the musicians were to begin with, but like reverends who’ve openly practised being gunned down on sight and the like.”  
“I’ve heard those stories too, and considering we don’t fall into the same social circles these days that lends them more credence.”  
“The war on religion is a nasty one, as it has been through the course of history, but for a lot of us it’s only now that we’re facing the very real and terrifying frontlines of this fight. People around here aren’t used to laying their lives on the line for what they believe in, and that’s something that not only this change of leadership has brought to the forefront but that I believe things like terrorism were kind of preparing us for.”  
“That’s one way to look at it.”  
“I mean think about it – terror attacks like 9/11 and the London bombings and that were all very religious based, and I think besides condemning the assholes that took part it would have made a lot of people maybe question their beliefs, and how God could allow such acts to pass. Those groups made a fight that wasn’t initially about religion into Islam versus Christianity and that created a great divide in our society that maybe was always there but was never so great. It’s this kind of division along with a certain President we refuse to name causing extra racial, economic and even gender division that openly allowed a takeover like this to happen. As a nation we were all so busy fighting each other that we became blind sighted to the true threats to our country.”  
“In rebuttal to that, because while I agree wholeheartedly I do know there will be some people wondering – what would you have expected the layman to do about a military takeover? Once the nukes dropped we weren’t exactly full of options, and I know those that could fight on the ground definitely took up their arms and fought in most cases to the death for their land.”  
“But we were outnumbered ten to one. This should have been taken care of at the political level long before anything ever reached our shores. I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking the media had a lot to do with it, they kept us distracted with all the in-fighting so that many of us didn’t even know the threat was coming until it was far too late. The people never had a chance to protest or to be heard on how to handle this, despite many of us seeing this coming from miles away.”  
“You think he would have flipped the switch any sooner if people were protesting in the streets?”  
“Honestly? I don’t know. It didn’t seem to do any good for anything else these past few years.”  
“Before we completely disappear down this black hole and I personally know that it’s only going to get darker, I’ve got another song for the fighters out there.”  
“This is a good one. Lyrically it would be construed differently but I think the chorus could definitely be considered a fight song.”  
“Particularly for those out there fighting from the shadows, many of us would like to say… we bet our lives on you, and we all hope you win.”_

_“I know I took the path that you would never want for me, I know I let you down didn’t I? So many sleepless nights where you were waiting up on me, but I’m just a slave unto the night…”_  
Taylor could feel the straps cutting into his wrists as he fought them, and the pain rivalled that in his chest as he was allowed to come up for air. He choked and spat water to the side as his eyes struggled to focus again.  
“We will stop when you give us a name,” the pacing soldier sounded bored, as though this were an everyday occurrence.  
As far as Taylor knew, it might have been. He was just the next person in line.  
He was barely given a chance to catch his breath between the cloth being pulled away and thrown over him again and he could feel the water seeping into his lungs.  
The next time he was allowed some air the soldier’s face was very close to his.  
“We are just starting,” he seemed pleased with himself as Taylor choked, “we can do this for much longer.”  
“Longer?!” he managed to get out, the first word he’d managed to get in at all.  
“He said longer,” the soldier indicated to the one actually doing it.  
“Wait!” Taylor choked out but it was too late.

 _”Now remember when I told you that’s the last you’ll see of me, remember when I broke you down to tears. I know I took the path that you would never want for me, I gave you hell through all the years…”_  
Taylor jumped when he heard footsteps coming back to the room. Before they’d abandoned him to recover they’d placed a strap across his throat – not enough to choke him but enough to feel like it could – to stop him from sitting up from the slab. He guessed it was so he wouldn’t chew through the straps but leaving his body exposed to the soldiers was more harrowing than anything else.  
He recognized the soldier instantly. It was the one he knew from the truck rides home. Wondering if he’d come to kill him he quickly diverted his eyes back to the ceiling.  
When all he did was stand over him and stare downward Taylor struggled to find something to say.  
“I’m sorry,” was all he could think of.  
“You are sorry,” the soldier was still staring, “you are sorry for what?”  
“For lying to you,” Taylor admitted, his voice husky from yelling so much, “I was just trying to survive.”  
“You were using us,” he corrected.  
“I know,” Taylor opened his fists to lay his hands flat on the cold concrete.  
He was still saturated down to his navel and the cold night air was starting to seep into the prison. The yells from the other prisoners, while they’d seemed faint during the ordeal, had actually quietened as the sun went down. Instead of shouts all he could hear were murmurs.  
“How long do I have?” he asked, wondering if the soldier would humor him.  
He had no reason at all to answer his questions.   
“You die at sundown tomorrow.”  
Taylor felt his heart skip a beat and he closed his eyes. He had no idea if the sun was actually down yet but he was sure the next twenty four hours would pass like lightning.  
“You will be transferred to the gallows with the others tomorrow afternoon. Did you answer the questions?”  
“No,” Taylor wondered if the impending execution would disrupt their interrogation methods.  
“Then you will be transferred to the gallows with the others tomorrow after you have answered the questions.”  
“What if I don’t answer?”  
“Then you will not survive until the transfer. They do not care if you die early,” the soldier was blunt.  
Taylor gulped at that, knowing he spoke the truth. He was already hoping Rob had gotten word and had the sense to take cover, or at the very least avoid the radio shack. He knew he wasn’t going to last a second round.  
He couldn’t in good conscience ask the soldier for help. Even considering the likelihood that he’d be turned down, he knew dissention would mean instant death for him too.  
When the soldier suddenly turned to leave the room without another word it took him by surprise. Until he heard the many footsteps of his interrogators returning. Once again his heart started to race as he contemplated a very sudden and ugly ending at their hands.  
“Begin,” their leader commanded, not even re-asking the question this time.  
Taylor heard the clatter of the refilled pail hitting the floor and saw the cloth ready for round two.  
“Wait! Wait,” he looked between them, hoping they would this time, “I’ll tell you what you want to know.”  
“It is a trick,” the leader’s head was held high in confidence.  
“It’s not,” Taylor shook his head desperately, “please, I’ll tell you-!”  
He cut off as the cloth covered his face again.  
“Rob!” his cry was muffled, but he heard the soldiers pause.  
The few seconds it took for the cloth to be removed felt like an eternity.  
“What did you say?” the leader raised a brow.  
“His name is Rob, Rob Thomas,” Taylor was panting, “he was the singer of a band called Matchbox Twenty. He wasn’t found in the cull because he wasn’t home in LA. I don’t know where he lives now but it’s somewhere east of Tulsa.”  
“이것을 적어 라,” the leader instructed, one of the soldiers quickly taking out a notepad, “what is his name?”  
“Rob. Thomas,” Taylor said slowly, “we met years ago but we only started the radio thing a few months back.”  
“He is your friend but you do not know where he is living,” the leader sounded suspicious.  
“I swear I don’t,” Taylor insisted, “we did it on purpose in case one of us ever got in trouble. I’ve given you everything I know already, I know it isn’t much but it’s all I have.”  
“당신이 그를 믿습니까?” the one with the notepad leant in to his leader.  
Taylor’s eyes darted between them as they tried to decide if he were telling the truth. 

_”I’ve been around the world and never in my wildest dreams would I come running home to you. I’ve told a million lies but now I tell a single truth, there’s you in everything I do…”_  
The kids were retired to bunk beds at the rear of the house, and far from staying up to chat they were all pretty worn out from the day and went to bed without trouble. Ezra and Penny chose to stay with Kate and Natalie but Penny soon found herself distracted by friends of Calvin’s as they entertained each other.  
They had definitely walked in on some kind of party, but even at the end of the night the Hansons hadn’t figured out what it was for.  
Tony and Robin ended up separating the older trio in a room toward the front of the house once the kids were all settled in and most were asleep.  
“So they came for Taylor?” Robin was drinking water in an effort to sober up more.  
“And Zac,” Kate added, well aware that Robin knew who they were now.  
“Tough break.”  
“When did this happen?” Tony looked between them.  
“Around midday,” Natalie offered, “we escaped through a tunnel we built a long time ago and went straight to Sierra’s. She sent us here.”  
“On the radio Taylor was saying he wasn’t a part of the resistance but that he wanted to be,” Robin’s eyes narrowed, “when did-“  
“You listen to the radio?” Natalie was surprised.  
“All the time,” Tony shrugged, “we were using a similar channel to relay messages across state lines when we found them. Is the other guy okay?”  
“Rob, and we don’t know,” Kate shook her head.  
“We don’t have a way to get word to him,” Natalie admitted, “but I know that Taylor would like us to if we could.”  
“What’s his name?” Robin double-checked.  
“Rob Thomas, he was the singer of-“  
“Matchbox Twenty, got it,” Robin mused, “I knew I knew his fucking voice.”  
“He’s been stuck in Oklahoma since the change, I’m not sure what he was doing here,” Natalie explained, “but we don’t know where and Tay purposely never asked.”  
“We know where he is,” Tony nodded to himself.  
“You do?” Kate was surprised.  
“We know someone who knows about him, rather,” Tony corrected, “we can get word to him tonight.”  
“Thank you, it would mean a lot,” Natalie insisted.  
“To him too, probably,” Robin smirked.  
“So what is this place?” Ezra was still looking around, having avoided the front rooms of the house to begin with.  
“You’re looking at the safest house of the local resistance,” Tony informed him.  
“What?” Natalie’s brow went up.  
“How?” Kate’s soon followed, “we thought you might be with them, but how does this equal safe? There’s so much noise and-“  
“It works for us,” Tony gave Robin a glance, “the patrols know that if they come knocking they’re going to find a bunch of drunk adults commiserating their lost lives. Little do they know…”  
“They aren’t lost at all,” Robin smirked again, “wait until you see the basement.”  
“So you’re a part of the resistance, and you’ve heard Tay’s radio show,” Natalie wished so badly that he was here to hear this, “what is your part? Do you just run the safe house?”  
“We aren’t the armed forces if that’s what you’re asking,” Tony amended, “but we work to keep people safe and if necessary we’ve bribed a patrol or two. It certainly sounds like you guys could use our help.”  
“We’ll take whatever you’re offering,” Kate assured.  
“Where were your husbands taken?” Robin looked between them.  
“We don’t know,” Natalie looked to Kate.  
“We’re a little surprised they didn’t execute them on the spot,” Kate admitted.  
“If they’re going to execute them they’ll be taken out to McAlester,” Robin looked to Tony.  
“There’s a public stage there where they hang people sometimes,” Tony explained, “and if they managed to collect all three Hanson brothers they’ll definitely want to show them off.”  
“We need to find out if Ike and Nikki are okay,” Kate gave Natalie a pat on the arm.  
“Isaac was taken earlier today,” Tony informed them, “we like to keep in the know about who’s getting arrested just in case our heads are on the block next.”  
“And I recognized his name,” Robin admitted.  
“What about his wife?” Natalie was afraid to ask.  
“We don’t know,” Robin shook her head.  
“But we can find out,” Tony assured, “excuse me. Feel free to grab something more to eat or have a drink or anything.”  
He stood to leave the room, leaving them alone with Robin.

 _”So I, I bet my life… I bet my life, I bet my life on you…”_  
“I swear to God if this is because of Tay’s radio thing-“  
“What? You’ll what?” Zac demanded, “it could just as easily be because he was harboring me. You think I want that on my head either?”  
Isaac rolled his eyes and before Zac could go on they heard boots in the hall. Zac scrambled to his feet and went to the door, already worried that they’d returned to collect another Hanson. When he caught a glimpse of Taylor returning he quickly backed off again.  
“What is it?” Isaac was looking up from the bed.  
The door opened before Zac could respond and Taylor was thrown in again. Zac easily caught him, quickly looking him over to make sure he was okay.  
“Why are you wet?” he frowned, realizing how soaked he was.  
“Jordan Taylor Hanson,” the soldier interrupted them.  
He stood in the doorway and didn’t look like he was about to leave.  
“Zachary Walker Hanson. Clarke Isaac Hanson. For crimes against our Supreme Commander, and the Supreme Leader of the North Korea and United America Alliance, you have been sentenced to death by hanging.”  
“What the f-“  
“Stop,” Taylor put a hand on Zac’s chest.  
“Your sentence shall be carried out at dusk tomorrow.”  
The door closed behind him and Zac threw Taylor off. He went to the door to watch them walk away.  
“What the hell happened to you?” Isaac was looking Taylor over.  
“And what the hell is going to happen to us?!” Zac turned back, “what did you do?”  
“Nothing,” Taylor scowled in defence, “they tortured me into giving up Rob. That’s it. It had nothing to do with us.”  
“So we’re just going to die because of who we are?” Isaac shrugged.  
“We were always going to,” Taylor insisted.  
“And we don’t even get a chance to plead our case? We haven’t made music in almost a year!”  
“I told them, they don’t care.”  
“So this is it? We’re dead tomorrow.”  
“It’s more of a pardon than a lot of musicians got,” Taylor looked across to Isaac.  
“It’s less than a day,” Isaac reiterated, “do you understand that? After tomorrow, that’s it! Nothing! It’s over!”  
“I understand fine! But there’s nothing we can do about it!” Taylor’s voice rose, “what do you want me to do?!”  
Zac leant back against the wall and closed his eyes.   
“Did you fight?” Isaac demanded.  
“I was being _water boarded_!”  
“Shut UP!” Zac yelled suddenly, making both of them jump from the echo.  
In the moment of silence that followed they could have sliced the air with a knife.  
“I have been trying so hard not to lose my mind in here,” Zac looked between them, his eyes dark, “because if I do, guess who I’m going to take it out on? I’ll give you a hint – it’s not going to be them.”  
“Zac-“  
“Stop,” he glared at Taylor, “the last thing we need to do right now is turn on each other. It sucks. It sucks the big one. But when it all comes down to it, if we’re going down? At least we’re going down together.”  
Isaac diverted his eyes as Taylor’s fell.  
“Now we don’t have much time,” Zac went on, “and I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t want to spend it fighting.”  
“I never considered it being anyone but me,” Taylor admitted sullenly.  
“I’m too scared to be angry,” Isaac shook his head.  
“It’s okay to be scared,” Zac insisted, “because we’re gonna do this together, and we’ll get each other through it.”  
Taylor locked eyes with him again, not sure if he understood what he was saying.  
“It’s just another transition, that’s all,” Zac shrugged, “except this time? We get to meet God himself.”


	24. Don't Fear The Reaper

_”Time for our last song for the night. Or morning I guess, depending on when you find the time of day to listen to us.”  
“And we’re back to depressing!”  
“I wouldn’t call it depressing as such. I chose this for a pretty good reason.”  
“Do you feel safe to share, or…?”  
“I’ll share a little. I lost someone pretty important to me this past week. Someone who left us well, well before his time. It wasn’t something that necessarily could have been helped but I’ll now spend the rest of my life knowing that I wasn’t there for him at the end. I have to hope with everything that he went peacefully and without fear, and that’s kinda where this song choice comes from.”  
“More morbid than depressing.”  
“I guess so. However, as morbid as it sounds, a lot more people are going to lose their lives between now and next week, and hopefully this might bring those people some comfort as well.”  
“We can only try.”  
“So until next time, stay safe everybody. May God be with you.”  
“Stay safe!”   
“Here’s a little something from Blue Öyster Cult.”_

_“All our times have come. Here but now they’re gone. Seasons don’t fear the reaper, nor do the wind or the sun or the rain – we can be like they are. Come on baby, don’t fear the reaper…”_  
The next morning, Natalie was woken by Kate getting up to use the bathroom. The two of them along with Ezra, Penny and Lucille had taken up their own bedroom, one that looked like it had barely been slept in previously. Kate wasn’t gone long before a shadow appeared in the doorway and Natalie could instantly smell the coffee Robin was holding.  
“Good morning,” her voice was a lot quieter than it had been the night before, “how did you sleep?”  
“Not well,” Natalie looked over where the three kids were still sleeping, “but it had nothing to do with the bed. Thanks.”  
Robin smiled a little before stepping in to hand her the coffee.  
“Come on, we have to talk to you two,” she indicated with a nod, “we’ve got news.”  
“Already?” Natalie was surprised.  
She pulled herself up, seeing that Penny was starting to stir, and followed Robin from the room. The younger woman took her into the kitchen where Calvin had a number of mugs set out and had a coffee machine going full steam.  
“How do you afford any of this?” Natalie was amazed, despite knowing Taylor’s salary alone had always had to be split between the two families.  
“More males in the house than females and they’re all willing to work,” Robin explained, “sorry about last night, we were a little crazy.”  
“I think we lost half our stash of alcohol in one night,” Calvin admitted, handing Robin another mug, “but hey, we were celebrating.”  
“What were you celebrating?” Natalie looked between them as she took a seat at the bench.  
“We got word that the resistance to the north broke through a Korean stronghold,” Tony explained, coming into the room and bee lining for a mug of coffee, “and that area around the Canadian border was a tough one. Kinda makes us feel like if they can do it anyone can. Including us.”  
“You hear from other resistance camps?” Natalie was surprised, “how?”  
“Radio relays,” Robin explained, Kate appearing from the hall behind her, “it’s like Chinese whispers only hopefully more accurate and a lot more people can hear it.”  
“If they have the right frequency,” Tony shrugged.  
“’Morning,” Natalie gave Kate a nod.  
“Here,” Calvin slid a mug across for her too.  
“So is it only the three of you here?” Natalie asked as Kate came to collect it, “it seemed like a lot more last night.”  
“A couple of the guys have left for work already,” Robin shrugged.  
“And there’s more passed out in the back,” Calvin smirked to himself.  
“We try and keep a low profile in the mornings because it’s when we get most of our work done,” Robin added, “…usually. Today is not a great day for that.”  
“Which is bad timing for these guys,” Calvin indicated the Hansons.  
“We’re already grateful for whatever you can offer,” Kate assured, perking up a little already with the caffeine.  
“Speaking of…” Calvin raised a brow at Tony.  
“Right,” he cleared his throat, “we heard back from the eastern Oklahoma crew early this morning. Rob Thomas knows what happened to Taylor and he can do whatever he wants with that information now.”  
“Thank you,” Natalie breathed a sigh of relief.  
“The west has similar news. They managed to locate Nicole Hanson and her kids. They’re staying with a couple named Wright I think?”  
“Jess and Joe,” Kate shot Natalie a glance, “that’s where we were heading.”  
“That means she’s okay for now,” Natalie agreed.  
“It might not be a good idea,” Robin warned, “if the patrols get wind of too many people in the house, that’s never a good thing. Even if it’s women and kids.”  
“We weren’t all that sure that Joe would be able to support us for long when we originally made the plan,” Kate admitted, “but we didn’t really count on them all being taken at once either.”  
“Right. We assumed either Taylor or Isaac, but not all three at once.”  
“About that…” Tony’s eyes fell to his coffee, “we have news about them as well.”  
“You know where they are?” Kate jumped on.  
“We know more than that,” Tony looked between his friends, “they weren’t taken to McAlester, like we thought, but last night they were given official sentencing and they’ll be taken there today.”  
“McAlester is where you said the public executions take place,” Natalie felt the blood drain from her face.  
“And our boys have been added to the line-up,” Tony confirmed, “they want to hang them at sunset.”  
Natalie nearly choked.  
“What can we do?” Kate began to fret, “is there any way to contact them? To see them?”  
“You could go to the execution,” Robin shrugged, “but they might be expecting that, and if they think you were aiding them they’ll probably just add you to the list then and there if you know what I mean.”  
“We can’t just let this happen,” Natalie shook her head, “the last thing I heard from Taylor was him screaming at us. I can’t… that can’t be it. I need to see him.”  
“We might be able to get you in,” Calvin seemed wary, “but getting out will be the hard part.”  
“Do you have people up there?” Kate looked between them.  
The three shared a look that told her they weren’t ready to answer that.  
“Look, we know we’re not going to save them,” Natalie assured, “we know we can’t go up against that kind of power. But if we had a chance just to see them, or talk to them, one last time…”  
“We’re taking it,” Kate finished for her, “no matter what.”  
Tony sighed and tapped his fingers on his mug.  
“I’ll see what I can do,” he promised, turning to leave the room again.  
Natalie could feel the tears returning and set her mug back onto the counter. Before she could turn back Kate had pulled her into a hug.

 _”Valentine is done, here but now they’re gone. Romeo and Juliet are together in eternity. 40,000 men and women every day. 40,000 men and women every day redefine happiness. Another 40,000 coming every day, we can be like they are. Come on baby don’t fear the reaper…”_  
Taylor was running his fingers over the pendant that held his children’s initials when they heard the soldiers coming back. The heat inside the cell had almost completely dried him from the night before but once again it was getting harder and harder to breathe.  
“This must be it,” Zac got to his feet from where he’d been sitting by the door.  
“We had a good life,” Isaac spoke aloud for mostly his own benefit, “it doesn’t matter how we go out, it matters what we did. I think we did okay.”  
Taylor gently kissed the pendant, more comforted by the thought that he’d soon see Viggo again.   
When the door opened for the last time they saw the leader with armed men shadowing him.  
“Come with us,” he ordered, indicating for them to leave the cell.  
“At least we get out of here,” Zac took one last look around before leading the way.  
Taylor and Isaac locked eyes before Isaac reached out for his hand. Taylor took it and pulled himself up before following Zac out with Isaac coming last. Instead of just a few soldiers to escort them the hall was lined with them. Three standing to the side held ropes, and Isaac panicked for a moment that they might be going around their throats. Instead they were used to bind their hands.  
The one tying Zac’s was the soldier Taylor had recognized and he avoided eye contact as best he could.  
Once restrained they were led out in what felt like a similar direction to where they’d come in. Without being hooded it all looked new. A chorus of shouts and cries echoed through the halls from the prisoners they were leaving behind, but once they hit the doors to the outside the sound became barely a murmur. Momentarily blinded by the daylight the brothers were loaded into the back of an open-caged truck, three armed soldiers getting locked in there with them.  
“This feels medieval,” Taylor looked over his shoulder as the truck pulled out of the prison.  
“It practically is,” Isaac agreed, “we’re just missing the townsfolk throwing fruit.”  
“We don’t know how far we’re going, we might get it yet,” Zac pointed out.  
The truck didn’t take them all that far, and all three took the time to take in the scenery. The sun was high in the sky and it lit up the landscape as if knowing they wanted to take in all that they could on this last journey of three well-travelled men.  
As they pulled into the gates they could clearly see the gallows in the distance, but they quickly noticed something else…  
“Wait,” Taylor sat up straight, “this _is_ public!”  
“It’s a public execution,” Zac realized, seeing a group of people on the grassed area below the gallows already.  
They could see a truck to the right of the stage area stacked with sheeting. They evidently hadn’t been the only execution scheduled for that day.  
As the truck started to back up beside the stage they realized their destination was another cage, stage side. This one already had about five people in it. The guards held them back with rifles as the doors opened and the back of the truck was unlocked.  
“움직임!” one of the soldiers with them ordered.  
All three managed to get down from the truck without help before being pushed into the cage. The doors were quickly shut after them to prevent anyone else getting out.  
The cage sat in the direct sun and the opposite door opened onto a stairwell that led to the stage and to the gallows.  
“Who the fuck are you?”  
They turned to a man a lot younger than them who was looking them over accusingly.  
“Who the fuck are you?” Zac hit back.  
They were the only ones with their hands bound, but it didn’t mean they weren’t ready to fight.  
“He’s not next, that’s all that matters,” an older man offered.

 _”Love of two is one, here but now they’re gone. Came the last night of sadness and it was clear that she wouldn’t go on. Then the door was opened and the wind appeared, candles blew then disappeared, curtains flew then he appeared saying ‘don’t be afraid… come on baby’ and she had no fear, and she ran to him then they started to fly, they looked backward and said goodbye…”_  
Natalie was staring at the clock, not hearing Penny as she spoke to her. It was early afternoon by now and the clock only seemed to be going faster. She was sure that once it hit 6pm her own heart would stop.  
“Nat?” Kate had been trying to get her attention for a while now, “Nat?!”  
Penny touched her arm and she nearly jumped out of her skin.  
“Something’s happening,” Kate’s eyes were to the back door.  
Tony appeared a moment later with his arms full of scarves. It was an odd look for the middle of summer.  
“Take these,” he handed an equal amount between the two women, “and follow me.”  
“Why?” Natalie was confused but her heart was racing all the same.  
“It’s probably better if you don’t ask,” Tony gave her a smile-less wink.  
“What about the kids?” Kate gave Penny a glance.  
“Robin and Calvin will stay with them. Come on.”  
Natalie looked again to the clock before turning to give Penny a tight hug. Without saying a word to her she followed Kate and Tony.  
He took them to a shed where another of their roommates had gone as soon as he’d gotten home from work. As a result they hadn’t been properly introduced yet.  
“Girls this is Dave,” Tony quickly did it, “and he has a surprise for you.”  
“But we have to be quick,” Dave looked between them.  
He took hold of a large piece of canvas sheeting and pulled it free. Under it was a patrol truck, complete with Korean license plates.  
“What is this?” Kate folded her arms.  
“This is your ride to McAlester,” Tony indicated the truck, “if we leave now we can make it. We’ve got people expecting us.”  
“How did you get this?” Natalie frowned as she looked the truck over.  
“Do you want to ask questions?” Tony’s brow rose, “or do you want to see your husbands?”


	25. Feeling Alive

_”Friends, family, listeners… I know there’s a lot more of you out there than we ever imagined there being initially… I have some unfortunate news to share with you today. I got word that my co-anchor, co-star and co-conspirator was arrested, and that means the end of this show as we know it. Now I plan to put a bunch of songs on loop for you and I’ll let them just play out, but as you may have guessed it’s become a little too dangerous for me to keep this up by myself. So I’ve pre-recorded this little something and whether or not it ever goes to air… I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out. I want to take this time to thank everyone out there who’s been following the show, and who may have used it to give themselves a little boost or a little gusto in the effort to keep going. I hope we’ve been able influence some fighters or just some very stubborn souls. I hope we’ve managed to stop people on the verge of giving in. Hopefully our end doesn’t mean yours and you will find other ways to carry on. But now that my friend has been ousted, despite not knowing whether I have been or not, it gives me the ability to play you fine people something of his. I’ve long been a fan of his and his band’s work and there are many songs from that repertoire to choose from, but I’ve chosen one that I think continues our original message and original intention of this entire show of ours. So this is a pretty recent song, it was on an EP they released to the public back in 2016 called_ Play _, and it’s for the fighters still out there. Wherever you are Tay, I hope you’re okay. I hope everybody else stays safe. Thank you all, and to all – goodnight.”_

_“I’ve never been a bleeder, rarely a compete-r, I’m not the big boss always weighing the costs. I’m a man I’m not a ghost, I’m a guest without a host, my story isn’t sterile been on both sides of the barrel. I’m not beating my chest, or claiming I’m the best, but tonight I know what I could be…”_

_“Tonight I won’t stand still, even if the cannons fire. I’m humble by your side. Tonight I won’t stand still, even if we don’t survive. I’m humble at your side, and I’m feeling alive…”_  
“Quick, untie me,” Taylor turned his back to Isaac.  
“Tay I can’t use my hands,” Isaac scorned.  
“Yes you can! Just do it without looking!” Taylor hit back.  
“You know they ain’t gonna care if one of you pops off early,” the first instigator was shoving Zac in the chest, “tell me who the fuck you are.”  
“Why do you care?” Zac shrugged, “we’ll be dead by sundown.”  
“Because I need something to do with my time,” the man got in his face, Zac now backed against the wire of the cage.  
“Leave him alone,” a woman curled up in the back corner was barely loud enough to hear.  
“Or what?” he turned on her, “do you know who he is?”  
Taylor pulled on his wrists, starting to feel the ropes coming loose. They weren’t quite there.  
When the woman didn’t reply the man advanced on her. Despite others telling him not to he grabbed her by the shoulders and dragged her to her feet.  
“No! Stop! Please!” she cried, trying to shield herself.  
“You brought this on yourself,” he scowled, Zac feeling his blood starting to boil.  
One hard slap across the face made both he and Taylor jump.  
“Maybe we could have a little fun before our time is up, huh?” his tone soon changed, one hand going to her throat, “how long have you got before you hit the slab?”  
“Two days,” her voice shook.  
The man smirked before planting his lips on hers. She tried to struggle but she was easily half his size.  
The moment Isaac had the ropes off Taylor was on him. He managed to pull him into a headlock before throwing him back toward the gates.  
“Enough!” he scolded, “grow the fuck up!”  
“Why?” the man was rubbing his neck, “we’re all gonna die anyway.”  
Isaac had backed over to Zac and indicated for him to turn around. He started working on Zac’s ropes instead.  
“Because you’re not the only sheriff in town now,” Taylor insisted, “you might have these people fooled but as long as we’re here you’ll keep it in your pants. Even if we are gonna die we can at least do it with honor.”  
The man just smirked and pointed behind him. Taking a moment to make sure it wasn’t a ruse, Taylor turned to see what he was pointing at.  
Workers were setting up additional nooses at the gallows. Two of them. The additions made three.  
“That tells me you’re going first,” the troublemaker looked satisfied, “so you won’t be the sheriff for long.”

 _”Don’t say that I’m a leader, don’t call me senorita, don’t offer me a light – I need someone who can fight. I’m not a champion I don’t want to be superman, never stood behind the cause or said ‘hold the applause’… I must confess, I’ve been a man without a quest, but I heard my gut say ‘it’s your time to play’ so tonight I won’t stand still even if the cannons fire…”_  
As the sun began to set the shadows from the ropes were evilly cast over the cage. All three were very sunburnt from the day but figured it wouldn’t be a problem for long. A crowd was gathering after rumors spread of an evening event and soldiers and extra guards alike were starting to appear. The brothers had formed a prayer circle until guards caught on and forced them to stop with the threat of being shot. They figured they’d rather go to the gallows with dignity than die like fish in a barrel. Besides, it added to what little time they had left.  
When they saw the guards getting into position Taylor pulled himself up from where he’d been sitting and brushed off the dirt before turning to pull his brothers up too. He hugged Isaac first, being closest, but didn’t say a word. Then he hugged Zac. As they hugged each other and Zac gave Isaac a pat on the back Taylor headed for the door to wait for it to be opened. It didn’t take long. Soldiers in pressed uniforms with rope in their hands came to the gate and unlocked it.  
“Have fun boys,” the earlier troublemaker taunted from behind them, but none fell to the distraction.  
Isaac began to feel nauseous as Taylor’s hands were bound behind him again before being let out. A soldier held his arm to keep him aside as the same was done for his brothers. It was while he was waiting outside the cage that he thought he heard his name.  
It came as a whisper at first before growing in urgency. Behind him the crowds had gathered substantially to the point where they were sure people in the area had been forced to come and watch, but even in the swarm on the other side of the fence he spotted her.  
The soldier couldn’t hold him. Ignoring his yells of warning, Taylor bolted.  
“What are you doing here?!” he demanded once he got to her, “are you crazy?! You need to run!”  
“I just needed to see you,” tears were filling Natalie’s eyes already, “it’s okay! We’re all okay!”  
“Not for long if you don’t leave,” Taylor warned her.  
She reached through the bars to take hold of his shoulder when she saw more than one soldier coming for him.  
“I love you,” she barely got out, “I just needed you to know that.”  
“I know, and I love you too.”  
He leant in for the kiss as her hand ventured to the back of his neck. It lasted barely three seconds before the soldiers were on him and one of them had grabbed for her. But she’d already disappeared back into the crowd.  
Seeing what had happened, Zac already had his eye on the masses trying to spot Kate. As a result of the distraction Isaac was the first to be led up to the stage and to the third trapdoor. Zac was right behind him, and Taylor didn’t fight. Once the nooses were fitted around their throats a guard stooped to tie each of their ankles together before one took up post behind each of them to make sure nothing went wrong.  
Zac was the first to realize that the stage wasn’t very tall, and their drop wouldn’t be more than a few feet. Their necks weren’t going to break – they were going to choke on the rope.  
“Clarke Isaac Hanson,” a soldier with more stars on his uniform than any of the others held a megaphone at the side of the stage, “Zachary Walker Hanson and Jordan Taylor Hanson have been condemned to die by hanging for crimes against our Supreme Leader and Commander Kim Jong-Un. These crimes include but are not limited to the production and distribution of music of unauthorized nature-“  
“Kim likes pop music!” a woman in the crowd called out, drawing all the Hanson eyes.  
There was a gap of about three yards between the stage and the fence, and the crowd there was as dense as any concert they could remember, but they spotted her easily.  
“Why would he condemn those who create something he himself takes advantage of?! Why ban it here?!”  
“You Americans need to learn that play time is over! That you will obey!” the soldier was gruff, looking both as though he were about to lose his temper and as though this were something that came up every single time.  
He straightened his jacket before continuing.  
“They include performing the music and broadcasting it for others to hear.”  
Zac looked across at Taylor who shot him an embarrassed glance.  
“And keeping articles relating to the religion of Christianity on their person.”  
“Bullshit,” Taylor muttered, knowing it wasn’t worth the argument, “we took part in the treaty just like everybody else.”  
“That was mine,” Isaac owned up right away, “I had my 100 knot prayer rope on me.”  
“For harboring fugitives in their homes-“  
“That’s me,” Zac sighed to himself, the rope itching already.  
“-and for lies told to all commanding officers on each occasion these crimes were investigated. As a result you have each been found guilty of treason with a sentence of death to be carried out forthwith.”  
He took a step back and indicated to the guards behind them. They each put two hands on the levers for the trapdoors.   
Isaac kept his eyes on the sunset. The sky had gone a deep red, like it was angry. The silhouettes of the trees sat in stark contrast like a piece of art.  
Zac was still desperately searching the crowd hoping for one last glimpse of Kate. He knew she wouldn’t stand out which made it harder.  
Taylor kept his eyes forward, out across the crowd as he kept his breathing steady. What he was seeing with his mind’s eye more fulfilling than anything here and now.  
He got no other warning before the trap door opened and the rope tightened.

_”Nobody’s got the answers so I’m changing my plans because I’ve fallen on my face while just standing in place. When it’s all said and done, if we’ve lost or won, I know I am not a faker I’m a ‘I know what’s at stake-r’. I’ve said just about all I can say, there’s just one act left in this play…”_


	26. Chapter 26

Taylor hit the ground hard, jarring his right leg. He’d fallen onto his side before he even comprehended that he was still alive.   
Once he had his eyes shot to the next trapdoor. It had just opened and he saw Zac falling through. Scrambling to get to him with his hands and feet still bound, he managed to wedge himself under his brother’s feet.  
“Stand on me! STAND ON ME!” he called out, feeling Zac trying to steady himself.  
Isaac had tried to stay focused but the shouts caught his attention. The two free guards had raced to the trapdoor to see what had stopped Zac falling through, only for both of them to be hit in the chest with bullets.  
No one had heard a gunshot, and the threat of a sniper sent the crowd into a panic.  
Isaac sent his eyes over the crowd trying to spot anyone not running for their lives as his guard dove for cover and left him in the open. He spotted Kate first who seemed to be arguing with a man slightly taller than her before he started to drag her in the direction the crowd was running.  
It felt like Taylor was holding Zac forever before a slip told him Zac’s rope had also broken. He fell on top of him and grunted as he rolled to the side, settling into a coughing fit as he tried to catch his breath.  
“What the fuck happened?!” Taylor couldn’t see anything from below the stage, they could only hear boots running around them.  
Within a second of speaking a drop of blood hit him on the face.  
“Ike’s still up there,” Zac choked out, signalling his ability to move.  
Taylor quickly grabbed for his brother’s legs, working to untie his ankles. With his hands shaking it was hard but once he was free Zac quickly sat up so he could untie his hands as well. He instantly returned the favor.  
Zac was the first on his feet and he pulled the noose from his neck before carefully peeking above the stage. He could clearly see the bodies of the guards laying closely but surprising him more was that Isaac seemed perfectly fine.  
“You guys want to get out of there and help me out?!” he called out.  
“Come on!” Zac quickly pulled himself up, seeing that the crowd had mostly dissipated already.  
He ran to Isaac’s side as Taylor followed him up, first removing Isaac’s noose. Taylor looked around for the guards. Most of them had taken refuge behind a nearby partition as they tried to zero in on the sniper. But one stood off to the far left…  
It was the soldier he’d recognized, beckoning to them. Behind him sat a familiar looking truck.  
“Hurry up!” he rushed Zac, seeing that he was almost done with Isaac’s ankles.  
Once freed they ran for the stairs. Following Taylor they were led aside the cage and to the waiting truck.  
“Wait!” Zac insisted, pulling them to a halt when he realized what was happening, “how do we know we can trust this?!”  
“Because he’s not shooting at us,” Taylor indicated the soldier’s rifle pointed toward the other soldiers, warding off fire as he tried to wave them in.  
Without explaining further, Taylor jumped into the back of the idling truck. Zac looked to Isaac who only followed before gritting his teeth and jumping up himself. Once the soldier joined them the truck sped away, gunfire hitting the tray and causing them all to duck inside.  
“Thank you,” Taylor turned to the soldier almost as soon as they were through the gates, “I don’t know why you’re helping us, but thank you.”  
“And now my cover is blown,” he sighed, reloading the rifle.  
Taylor blanched. He suddenly had a southern accent. The last time they’d spoken on the road he’d barely seemed to understand English.  
“So what now?” Zac demanded, already wondering who was driving the truck as the four of them were alone in the back, “where do we go?”  
“My wife was back there,” Taylor indicated, “what about her?!”  
“And Kate,” Isaac added, catching Zac by surprise, “I saw her there too.”  
“Was she okay?” Zac’s brow furrowed.  
“She looked fine,” Isaac lied before directing his attention to the soldier, “where are we going? Where are you taking us?”  
“Someplace safe,” was all he responded with, “we’ll worry about your wives later. I think I know who has them.”  
“So they didn’t organize this,” Taylor realized aloud, “who are you? Why are you helping us?”  
“You know who I am,” the soldier mused.  
“I thought I did,” Taylor shook his head, “but not anymore.”  
“You know him?” Zac demanded, “how?!”  
“His troop would give me a ride home Wednesday nights,” Taylor explained, still staring at the soldier, “or at least I thought. Are you a spy?”  
“That depends what you consider a spy.”  
“Did you save us just because we made friends? What about the rest of them?” Taylor frowned.  
“No, we knew who you were all along.”  
“You’re kidding,” Taylor was taken by surprise.  
“You knew he was doing the radio thing?” Isaac jumped on.  
“We recognized his voice,” the soldier shrugged, “we were part of a team hired to dissect one of the weekly shows. They wanted us to focus on the accents and find what area of America you were from. We narrowed them to western and to Oklahoma but we didn’t pass on our findings. We’d met him by then and knew instantly that he was Taylor Hanson.”  
“So you knew what I was doing out there every Wednesday. Why didn’t you say anything?” he asked.  
“Because we knew that if this all came to a head, you would need to be in the dark,” the soldier reasoned, “we couldn’t have you begging for help or otherwise blowing our cover.”  
“So you were always going to save us?”  
“We were always going to _try_ to save _you_ ,” the soldier corrected, “the others were a surprise and a fluke.”  
“Wow. That makes me feel so much better,” Zac drawled, making the soldier smirk.  
“Was everyone in that truck a defector?” Taylor turned the conversation back before it could go downhill.  
“Not the irregulars,” the soldier thought, “but I don’t think there were many of them. There were six of us in agreement.”  
The truck suddenly hit a rock in the road and the loud clunk made all three brothers tense. They knew they were supposedly out of the range of fire by now but that didn’t mean a team hadn’t come after them.  
“How far are we going?” Zac asked again.  
“Not too far. We can’t keep using this truck now,” the soldier looked up toward the cab, “we will swap at a safe house and continue north.”  
“Why north?” Taylor asked.  
“We have plans to keep you safe, that’s all you need to know,” the soldier grinned.

“Where is he?!” Natalie was trying hard not to scream at Tony.  
“Where were they taking them?! Are they going to try again?!” Kate demanded.  
“Calm down,” Tony was trying not to let them get to him after he’d ushered them back into the truck.  
Dave had taken off the moment they were in. The women had no idea where they were going but they were more concerned with where their husbands had gone.  
“Since when has anyone ever calmed down after being told to calm down?!” Kate’s voice rose.  
“Just tell us. If you know something, just tell us!” Natalie pleaded.  
“I don’t know much,” Tony insisted, “but I’m like 80% sure they were just saved by the resistance.”  
“You don’t know?” Kate’s brow rose.  
“What’s the other 20%?” Natalie frowned.  
“It could have been some kind of weird publicity stunt and they might end up right back where they came from,” Tony shrugged, “but I didn’t see any cameras, and usually when they do that-“  
“They would actually do that?” Kate didn’t believe it, “they’d kill their own men just to pretend to save ours just so they can point out how bad the resistance actually is?”  
“…Yes,” Tony pointed her way, “and they have done, but usually you can tell when they do it because the other soldiers aren’t scared. These ones were.”  
“How can this be so complicated?” Natalie put her head in her hands.  
“We’ll find them,” Tony assured, “just don’t expect it to happen in the next five minutes is all. We have our limitations too.”  
Kate leant over to put a supportive hand on Natalie’s shoulder.  
“Where are you taking us now?” she asked instead.  
“We’ll head back to the house and regroup,” Tony looked over his shoulder toward the cab again, “I think the kids will be more than happy to know that you’re okay. We’ll radio in from there and find out where the Hanson boys have been taken.”

It was easily a good hour on the road before they were able to swap trucks. The soldier, who they were invited to call Kuri, introduced them to the driver but wouldn’t give them a name for him. He wanted to remain anonymous and barely acknowledged the Hansons before alighting the second truck’s cab.  
Back on the road it had to be the early hours of the morning before the truck slowed again. Isaac was already yawning as he’d come down from the adrenaline rush, but the other two were still wired. Kuri pulled the canvas at the back aside as they drove in, and they caught a glimpse of burning lanterns along what looked like a dirt road. By the time they came to a standstill they could hear voices outside.  
“Moment of truth,” Isaac rubbed his eyes as Kuri jumped out and opened the tray for them.  
Zac was the first out, and he was surprised when he jumped down to find them surrounded by people. People of all ages and ethnicities; mostly dirty, but curious at the newcomers.  
“Is that Taylor Hanson?” he heard someone to the right asking, but couldn’t pinpoint who it was.  
Taylor jumped down behind him before turning to make sure Isaac made it down without hurting himself.   
“This is where I leave you,” Kuri announced, not stepping away from the truck.  
“Where are you leaving us?” Zac frowned, “you haven’t even told us yet!”  
“Excuse me.”  
A male voice from the crowd caught their attention as a man approached Zac.  
“Which one of you is Taylor?” he looked between them.  
“I am,” he owned up right away, still working to suppress his nerves.  
The man held out his hand and Taylor warily shook it.  
“Thank you,” the stranger was oddly sincere, “you’ve been a great help.”  
“Who are you? Where are we?” Zac focused on him instead.  
“My name’s Aaron,” he introduced, “and you’re standing in the major camp of the Kansas Resistance.”  
The brothers looked between each other. There was a smile in Taylor’s eyes.  
“Good luck,” Kuri jumped back into the truck.  
“Wait, where are you going?” Taylor quickly went back to him as he closed the tray behind himself.  
“Back to work,” Kuri shrugged, “we’ve got lots of work to do.”  
“Be careful,” Taylor reached up to shake his hand, “and thank you.”  
“Yes, thank you,” Isaac reiterated from behind him.  
“Just doing my job,” Kuri insisted before closing the canvas on them.  
“Stay safe!” Taylor called after him, the crowd shifting so that the truck could leave right away.  
The Hansons were left surrounded by people they didn’t know, which left them to focus on Aaron.  
“I can answer any questions you might have,” he was open when he saw their expressions, “but may I suggest you have something to eat first?”  
“Oh hell yes,” Zac sighed with relief, “I’m starving.”  
“Some water at least would be good, thanks,” Taylor agreed, starting to fidget.  
“We’ll try and find something for those burns too,” Aaron indicated their bright red skin, “follow me.”  
The crowd shifted again to let him through, and the brothers were suddenly very conscious of the stares they were getting from everyone there. It made Isaac wonder how often strangers arrived, and just how welcomed they might actually be. Aside from Aaron they weren’t feeling all that welcome just yet.


	27. Chapter 27

The kids, especially Ezra and River, were definitely glad to see their mothers again. They hadn’t been told where they were going or why, and Natalie was quick to pull her three eldest aside once they’d had some time to regroup.  
“Your father’s okay,” was the first thing she said, knowing Kate would be having a similar discussion with Shepherd and Junia at first opportunity, “we saw all three of them. They managed to get away from the army but we don’t know where they’ve gone.”  
“Why didn’t he come back with you?” Penny was confused.  
“Yeah, why did he leave?” Ezra frowned, “why didn’t you bring him back here?”  
“We couldn’t. I barely had a chance to talk to him,” Natalie could feel a quiver in her voice as she remembered the scene and had to take a deep breath, “but our friends here are going to try their best to find out where they’ve gone, so hopefully we’ll see them again _really_ soon.”  
“How soon?” Penny asked right away.  
“I don’t know. Everything’s happening really fast right now, they might need to wait for things to calm down. It’s dangerous out there for all of us.”  
“Is that why we couldn’t go?” River had his arms folded, already not impressed with the situation or with having been left behind.  
“Yes,” Natalie agreed right away.  
“So why did you?” Ezra demanded.  
After his talk with his Dad about having to be there for the others if anything happened to their parents, what his Mom had done had sounded stupid. More so now that his Dad had escaped anyway.  
“I can’t answer that,” Natalie didn’t want to get into it.  
Ezra just shook his head and turned away.  
“Are we okay?” Natalie looked between them, “did anything happen while we were gone?”  
“No we just played games with Robin and Calvin,” Penny’s voice was quiet.  
Natalie could see that they were all avoiding eye contact, but she reached out for River first. He gave her a hug but didn’t say anything.  
“Hopefully we’ll hear really soon what’s happening with your Dad. Then once we have him back we can figure out what to do,” she was half telling herself.

It was a good hour or so before Tony emerged from the back room that had been deemed off limits to the Hansons. The kids had been returned to bed and they were expected to sleep in. It was already nearing sunrise. With a little help from Calvin’s caffeine, Kate had managed to stay up with Natalie to wait for him.  
“Sorry that took so long, I think everyone’s asleep,” he shook his head.  
They could tell he was barely staying awake as it was.  
“What did you hear?” Kate asked, practically hugging her third coffee.  
“Just as I thought, the north resistance has them.”  
“Thank God,” Natalie breathed a sigh of relief.  
“I spoke to one of the girls up there,” Tony was rubbing his eyes, “they got in late last night and they’re settling in. If Dave’s up to it he might be able to drive you there tomorrow, but it would mean him taking a day off work.”  
“We don’t want to cause more trouble,” Kate looked to Natalie for confirmation, “point us in the right direction and we’ll figure something out.”  
“It might be too far,” Natalie cautioned, “we had enough trouble getting here let alone going out on our own. Don’t forget we’re fugitives.”  
“Kind of hard to forget,” Kate scorned.  
“I’ll talk to Dave tomorrow and we’ll go from there,” Tony promised, “but right now we should all get some sleep.”  
“Thank you Tony,” Kate offered him a smile, already feeling too buzzed to sleep.  
“Yes, thank you,” Natalie added.  
He returned Kate’s smile before heading for his room.

Taylor lay awake for a long time, just staring at where the sun came through the curtains on the window. They looked like they were from the 70s, floral and yellowed with age. They cast a semi-golden light across where he and his brothers slept and he’d seen plenty of shadows walk past the window already.  
He had no idea what time it was, and he had no idea what time he heard Isaac shift beside him.  
“Why are you awake?” he struggled to open even one eye, internally cursing the intrusive daylight.  
“Ike we’re _alive_ ,” he emphasized, watching his brother struggle to wake himself up, “we stood up there on the gallows with rope around our necks and we’re still here. I feel fucking invincible.”  
“I wouldn’t get too used to it,” Isaac scowled at the window before turning onto his back, “they’ll have everyone out there looking for us and we can’t hide forever.”  
“Who said anything about hiding?” Taylor asked innocently.  
Isaac opened an eye to look at him as they heard Zac roll over. When his head appeared above Isaac’s body they couldn’t see his face for his messy hair.  
“Guys we just survived a military execution. The least we could do is make the most of life’s greatest pleasure while we can.”  
“Sleep?” Isaac suggested.  
“Exactly. What time is it anyway?”  
“No idea,” Taylor admitted.  
Zac’s head moved, but Taylor couldn’t tell what direction he was even looking in. He took a deep breath and sighed.  
“So what now?” Isaac asked, a thump signalling Zac’s collapse back into his pillow.  
“If Nat and Kate were there yesterday they can’t be too far away,” Taylor thought out loud, “we have to get these people to look for them.”  
“Won’t be easy if they’re hiding,” Zac’s voice was muffled.  
“You never know,” Taylor shrugged, “it looks like these guys are pretty good at it so-“  
He cut off as the door opened and Zac looked up again.  
“I thought I heard voices in here…” a woman in a short dress entered with a grin.  
Taylor realized he could see up her skirt and quickly diverted his eyes.  
“You boys are welcome to come and get some breakfast when you’re ready. Or lunch, rather.”  
“What’s the time?” was the first thing Zac asked her.  
“Almost one,” she stepped back against the door, allowing Taylor to look up again, “coming out? Or going to stay in here all day? Both are viable options, by the way.”  
“One?” Isaac was surprised.  
“Who do we talk to about contacting our wives?” Taylor sat himself up.  
“Probably my brother, but he’s training right now,” she considered, “come and get some food and I’ll find him by the time you’re done.”  
She disappeared, heels clicking down the hallway.  
“I don’t know if I completely trust this,” Isaac rolled onto his side to push himself up as well, “I mean who shows up out of the blue to save random people? We aren’t living in a superhero world here.”  
“Maybe they don’t consider us random,” Zac suggested.  
“They knew who we were,” Taylor folded his legs and started to fidget.  
“They knew who you were,” Zac corrected him.  
“I’m just saying. Maybe none of this is random,” Taylor went on, “maybe they brought us here for a reason. I mean I always talked about wanting to join the resistance and now here we are.”  
“With nowhere else to go,” Isaac pointed out, “you think that’s a coincidence?”  
“Does it matter if it’s not?” Taylor shrugged.  
“Of course it does!” Isaac scowled, “we’re going to end up right back where we came from if we aren’t careful!”  
“Ike,” Zac put a hand on his arm, “cool it. Take a breath.”  
“You’re not taking this seriously,” Isaac warned.  
“I am, and I will,” Zac promised, “but right now we’re getting sleep and food, neither of which we’ve had in a long time. Let’s ride this as long as we can, okay?”  
Isaac rolled his eyes as Zac pulled himself to his feet and brushed off his dirty clothes.  
“First, food,” he announced.

The brothers headed for a sort of canteen area they’d been shown the night before, only this time it actually had other people in it. Once again they noticed the stares as all three headed for the fresh Bain Marie. Trying to ignore them and not make a scene, they found a corner to sit and eat in away from the general crowd.  
Unlike the night before where they had eaten whatever had been left over from that night, there were a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables and some real warm meat. They found themselves savoring the taste, unable to remember the last time they’d had any. They each ate a lot more than they had expected to. By the time they were done more of a crowd had gathered, but not many of them seemed to be there to eat.  
“Remember how we used to feel like animals in a zoo?” Taylor had folded his arms as he cast wary glances around the room.  
“I certainly don’t miss it,” Isaac mumbled, wishing they’d just leave.  
They didn’t really have anywhere to go, and they didn’t recognize anyone in the room. Just the amount of people there was already a surprise, and considering they’d come in the dark of the night before they began to wonder just how large the camp was. The buildings were reminiscent of a backwoods school camp though much more worn down.  
A chuckle to their right caught Zac’s attention and he turned to see two younger males holding a magazine and gesturing toward Taylor.   
“Something you wanna share with the class there?” he couldn’t help himself.  
“He said you look female,” one of them was curt, looking like he was ready for a fight.  
Taylor eyed him as Isaac turned to see what was going on.  
“Do you still think that? Because you might want to check your eyes,” Zac was having none of it, “either that or you’re into some really, really ugly women.”  
“Zac,” Taylor warned under his breath, not wanting it to escalate.  
“It’s amazing,” Isaac leant forward, “that even America has died and yet that joke still hasn’t.”  
The two men went back to laughing amongst themselves and Zac stood from his seat. Taylor quickly grabbed hold of his shirt to stop him getting far.  
“Tay-“  
“It’s not worth it,” Taylor gave him a stern look, “we don’t even know how long we’ll be here.”  
“Skipping out on us already?” one of the men taunted, “should have known you’d be a bunch of pussies.”  
“You do realize he used to hit things for a living, right?” Isaac indicated Zac, noticing his fists already clenched and ready to go.  
“Whatever.”  
“There you are!”  
They were distracted by the woman in the sundress finding them.  
“Looks like you’ve already carved out your own little corner here,” she mused as she approached.  
“We’re not feeling very welcome right now,” Isaac was blunt, not moving from his spot.  
Taylor finally let Zac go.  
“Sorry to hear,” her face fell before she cast a suspicious glance around.  
The crowd had conveniently diverted their eyes from the group.  
“Is your brother ready yet?” Taylor was hopeful, trying to get them back on track.  
“He’s still training, but I’ve passed the message on,” she assured, “if they’re out there we’ll find them. It’s what we do.”  
“So what now?” Isaac asked as Zac debated sitting down again.  
“Let’s get you out of here for a start,” she turned to lead them away, “we still have a ton to show you. It will probably help that it’s daylight.”  
Taylor shot Zac a glance to make sure he was ready to go before standing from his seat and prompting Isaac to do the same. They ignored everyone on the way out again, and were glad once they were out in the fresh air.

She led them down what looked like a garden path and past a couple of large sheds. Thankfully they didn’t pass more than a couple of people.  
“So what kind of training goes on here anyway?” Taylor took a few long steps to catch up with her, “what kind of missions do you guys even go on?”  
“Slow down cowboy, I’m not sure you’re ready for that,” she smirked.  
“With what we’ve been through in the last 48 hours there’s probably not much we aren’t ready for,” Zac pointed out from behind them.  
“He’s right. If we’re ever going to fight, now is probably the time,” Taylor tried to reason.  
“You’ve been here less than a day. Why don’t we work on getting the boys to trust you first?” she eyed him sideways.  
“We were under the impression these people wanted Tay on their side,” Isaac spoke up, “the guy who brought us here told us they listened to his radio show.”  
“Some of them, sure. A lot of people in the camp listened to it every day. But still… when some of the guys heard that Taylor Hanson wanted to join up they were like ‘whatever’.”  
“So we just have to start anew. No friends here either,” Taylor shrugged, “we can do that.”  
“You have friends,” the woman mused to herself, “some of them are just hiding.”


	28. Chapter 28

It was close to evening when Taylor found Zac watching some of the men train through the gaps in a fence. Isaac had gone down for a nap, not only because he was tired but because he didn’t want to mark the 24 hour anniversary of their near death experience. Zac heard his footsteps coming down the rocky path and glanced up only to check that they actually belonged to his brother.  
“How does it look?” Taylor asked, coming to join him.  
He had to stoop to see through where Zac was looking.  
“It doesn’t look too hard,” Zac shrugged, “we might need a little target practise though.”  
“It sounds like the hardest part will be convincing them to let us join,” Taylor pointed out.  
“Maybe,” Zac mumbled.  
They watched on in silence, flinching every now and then as one of the men took a hard hit. There were two women in among them, both armed with daggers. Not one of the group looked easy to take on hand-to-hand.  
“What do you think they do?” Taylor was curious, “do you think they’re planning something big? Or do they just save people like us?”  
“There’s not that many people here Tay,” Zac pointed out, “I doubt their objective is just to save people. This is too organized.”  
“But so are the military. What hope do these people have against that firepower?”  
“I think the point is that they’re trying,” Zac scorned, “remember how people used to say they wouldn’t go down without a fight? _This_ is the fight.”  
Taylor sighed to himself, again wondering what they were getting into.  
“It’s been 24 hours,” Zac spoke again, “and we’ve done nothing.”  
“We’ve been recovering,” Taylor defended, “you don’t get back in the game a day after breaking your leg.”  
“I feel like we’re wasting time,” Zac shook his head, “we were given a second chance and we’re ignoring it.”  
“We’re not ignoring it,” Taylor stood up, “we’re biding our time. There’s a difference. We were doing the same thing at home.”  
“We were hiding at home,” Zac argued, “that’s all.”  
“Whatever,” Taylor blew off, “just don’t do anything stupid.”  
“Like you did?”  
Taylor ignored the jab and walked away.

He walked past the room they’d been allocated to check on Isaac – already fast asleep – before considering an early dinner. He didn’t particularly want to brave the cafeteria on his own but he didn’t know how long Zac was going to be. Judging by his attitude he wanted to be left alone.  
He was slowly making his way toward the food, having made his way outside and toward the larger communal area, when he thought he heard something familiar.  
“DAD!”  
His eyes shot to River instantly, the boy bolting toward him.  
“RIV!” his eyes lit up as he caught him into a tight hug, “where did you come from?!”  
When he looked up Willa wasn’t far away and the rest of his family were trailing her. Natalie looked like she was about to burst into tears but Ezra and Penny just looked relieved.  
He quickly gave Willa a hug and kiss before standing to pull Natalie into his arms.  
“Thank God,” he breathed into her hair, taking a moment to just take in the feel of her.  
Natalie couldn’t even talk, she just held him tight. When Taylor finally pulled back she wiped at her eyes.  
“Are you guys okay?” Taylor asked his two eldest before she could say anything.  
“We’re fine,” Ezra offered, Penny nodding in agreement.  
“Where’s Kate?”  
Penny and Ezra both indicated behind them. Kate gave him a wave from where she stood back near the entrance, holding Lucille as her other three kids waited with her.  
“Zac’s going to be so happy to see you,” he knew she was too far to hear.  
“Are you okay?” Natalie finally got out, resting a hand on his chest, “you’re so red.”  
“Sunburn,” Taylor quickly blew off, “I’ll start peeling anytime now. How did you guys get here? What happened at home?”  
“We made it out fine,” Natalie assured, “if the soldiers found the tunnel it wasn’t until long after we were gone. We were going to head to Jess and Joe’s like we planned but then I remembered the couple with the pharmacy had mentioned the resistance and we went there instead and they led us to this nearby safe house where we met these people who had a radio and they were able to find out where you were and what was happening.”  
“They organized for us to get here,” Penny cut in, Natalie almost out of breath.  
“Sounds like you’ve had quite an adventure,” Taylor wasn’t sure he’d gotten it all.  
“What about you?” Ezra’s hands went into his pockets.  
“Don’t,” Natalie warned before Taylor could think about diverting, “we’ll have plenty of time to talk later. Where’s Ike and Zac?”  
“Isaac’s asleep, they gave us a room. Zac’s watching the guys train. I can go get him,” Taylor offered, looking toward Kate.  
“I’ll do it!” River offered, hyper for seeing his Dad again.  
“You’d better not,” Taylor put a hand on his shoulder before he could run.  
“We’ll wait here,” Natalie assured, holding both River and Willa back from following.  
When Taylor brought him back Zac just pulled Kate into his arms without a word. Taylor pulled Willa back into his as they stood back to wait for them. 

Isaac could hear familiar laughter as he groggily made it to the cafeteria later in the day. The sun had long set and the only reason he’d moved had been because his stomach had started to loudly complain. He hadn’t been looking forward to facing the crowd solo but when he stepped inside and saw his nieces and nephews his stomach couldn’t help but drop a little further.  
“Uncle Ike!” Shepherd was the first to spot him and run over for a hug.  
“Hey!” Isaac smiled widely, pulling him into his arms.  
There was soon a small line of kids waiting their turn for a hug and Taylor skirted them to check on his brother.  
“Are you okay?” he asked once Isaac let go of Junia.  
“Yeah, fine,” he was a little short, but there was still a smile on his face.  
Taylor nodded, not buying it for a second.  
“We’ll talk later,” he assured, “make sure you get something to eat.”  
He returned to the family without awaiting a reply. The room was deserted for the most part, with maybe four non-Hansons watching on. It made Isaac check his watch and make a mental note that it was a good time to come here in future.  
Dinner was a surreal experience, considering the past few days. Being surrounded by familiar faces for the first time in what seemed like forever left all three of them dissociating at different points of the evening. While it was great to have the regulars of Taylor and Natalie’s household back together, Viggo’s replacement in Isaac set an entirely different mood.  
When they noticed the kids getting tired Taylor and Zac – back to smiling already – organized for the younger ones to be set up in a room near to theirs. It appeared recently vacated and had nothing but a couple of mattresses on the floor, but the youngest five barely filled them. River chose to stay up with his elder siblings and Zac opted to give them a quick outside tour while Taylor pulled Isaac aside.  
“What’s up?” he asked softly, wary of prying ears despite the time of night.  
“Did you really just ask me that?” Isaac was incredulous.  
“Ike I’ve seen you angry, and I’ve seen you scared,” Taylor amended, “but I haven’t seen you like this.”  
“Well I’ve never been left hanging from a noose before. Maybe that’s something different.”  
“Ike-“  
“I’m worried,” he cut Taylor off, knowing that he wouldn’t relent, “I still haven’t heard anything on whether Nicole got out in time. I don’t even know if they’re still alive.”  
Taylor paused as it clicked, and he immediately began trying to work out what to do about it.  
“And I know I have no right to be jealous or anything, I’m truly glad that you guys are fine and all-“  
“No it’s okay,” Taylor quickly interjected, “feel whatever you need to. It’s weird for all of us.”  
“Weird, sure,” Isaac’s eyes narrowed, unsure if his brother was getting where he was coming from, “but you’ve got your families and I don’t have mine.”  
“There’s nothing we can do about that tonight,” Taylor half lied, “so what do you want to do?”  
“Sleep,” Isaac was honest, “but I slept too much earlier so now I want to find some alcohol and a quiet corner.”  
“You might be out of luck with that,” Taylor’s eyes lowered as Isaac pushed past him to leave.  
“So what else is new?”  
Taylor watched him leave, his mind again racing for ways to help. After thinking it over as Isaac left his sight he set off to try and find Aaron.

As it neared midnight Taylor found Natalie in the kids’ room talking quietly with Penny. Zac and Kate had taken up the second room and he hadn’t seen Isaac since their talk.  
“I’ll be right back,” Natalie promised her daughter when she saw the look on her husband’s face.  
She got to her feet and left the room, closing the door behind herself.  
“What is it?” she asked, Taylor a little embarrassed that his expression had warranted this reaction.  
“It’s Ike,” he admitted, fidgeting.  
“I thought something was off tonight, is he okay?”  
“No. He’s worried about Nikki and the kids,” he was careful to keep his voice down, “he doesn’t know if they’re okay and I can’t find Aaron to see if there’s a way to-“  
“Tay they’re fine,” Natalie quickly took his arm, “at least they were yesterday. They made it to Jess and Joe’s.”  
“They did? How do you know?” Taylor was surprised.  
“The people we were staying with in Tulsa, they found out for us,” Natalie explained, “I’m sorry, if I’d known he didn’t know I would have said something.”  
“It’s okay, but I’ve gotta find him. Thanks,” he leant in to kiss her before taking off again.  
Natalie watched him disappear into the dark, debating staying in the hall in case Isaac reappeared.

Instead of finding his brother, and just when he was about to give up for the night, Taylor came across Aaron talking with one of the women he’d seen training earlier in the day. They both eyed him as he approached.  
“Hi. Taylor,” he quickly introduced himself, shaking the woman’s hand, “could I have a word?”  
“Sure,” Aaron shrugged, his arms folded.  
“My brother hasn’t heard word from his family back in Tulsa yet, but I just heard that they’re staying with my sister,” Taylor quickly explained, “is there any way to get word to them, from them, or to get them here?”  
“Where’s your brother?” Aaron asked.  
“I don’t know, he took off after we ate and I haven’t seen him since. I’ve been looking,” Taylor admitted.  
“Do you think they’re in danger?”  
“They’re immediate family, so yes,” Taylor was surprised he even asked, “my sister probably is too, and they’ve got young kids. They can’t run.”  
Aaron turned to the woman beside him.  
“Get Terry up and tell him to get the radio going,” he instructed, “if they haven’t been taken in we’ll get them here as soon as possible.”  
“Thank you!” Taylor insisted as she left without a word.  
“You should get some sleep, it’s late,” Aaron insisted.  
“I’m just going to take another look around for my brother and then I’ll head back,” Taylor promised, “thanks again.”  
Aaron gave him a nod and watched as he left in a different direction from where he’d come.  
Taylor made his way to the nearest fence of the compound and tried to follow it around as far as he could. He kept clear of the training grounds but despite the darkness thought he’d covered most of the area he thought Isaac might have frequented. There was no sign of his brother.  
More than a little worried he eventually headed back to the family. Kate, Shepherd and Lucille had fallen asleep with the younger kids while Natalie and Zac had taken the original room with Penny and Ezra. Without noticeably waking anyone he settled at Natalie’s side and slid an arm around her waist as he closed his eyes with a sigh.


	29. Wildflowers

Taylor’s eyes opened again when he heard the door closing. Jumping up and causing Natalie to stir in her sleep, he took a moment to comprehend that Isaac was sleeping against the far wall. His back was to the group but he could easily tell it was him even in the low light.  
The door closing had to have been Zac leaving.  
“What is this, musical chairs?” he muttered, rubbing his eyes.  
“What?” Natalie’s head looked up.  
“Nothing, go back to sleep,” Taylor insisted, pulling himself up from beside her.  
Natalie grunted but lay down again. Taylor sighed when he got to his feet, looked down to see Penny staring up at him, gave her a smile and followed Zac outside.  
Hearing his footsteps on the gravel, Taylor was able to follow his brother out toward the training areas again. When he came into view Taylor found him looking through the same hole in the fence as he had been the day before.  
Training was already well underway for the morning, or so it seemed.  
“Did you sleep at all?” Zac’s brow rose before Taylor even realized he’d been made.  
“I must have,” he replied, coming to Zac’s side, “I didn’t hear Ike come back in and I spent all night looking for him.”  
“He only got in an hour ago,” Zac didn’t look up, “that might be why.”  
“Then I have no idea where he went because I looked everywhere,” Taylor sighed.  
“Obviously not or you would have found him.”  
Taylor eyed his brother as he continued to stare through the fence. The silence made it easy to hear the grunts from the trainees.  
“Are we okay?” Taylor’s eyes narrowed, “I know it’s been a rough couple of days but we’re planning to stick together on this, right? I feel like we’re falling apart.”  
Zac smirked at that, still not looking up.  
“What?” Taylor demanded.  
“Your definition of us ‘falling apart’ versus my ‘finally having freedom – but you’re still following me around’,” Zac admitted, “I’ve been stuck in your basement for half a year I just need a chance to walk around somewhere new with new people.”  
“That’s not what I meant,” Taylor blushed a little, knowing very well he’d been unconsciously crowding him.  
He was just so used to having to watch over everyone at home.  
Zac finally looked up, making momentary eye contact before Taylor looked away.  
“We might never know what happened back there or how they found us,” Zac began, “but you had not only your own family, but my family’s lives in your hands on a daily basis. And you were reckless. You were supposed to keep your head down and you did nearly everything but.”  
“I was careful,” Taylor defended.  
“Careful would have been staying home with us,” Zac stared him down, “careful would have been hiding out with me.”  
“They weren’t going to let Nat go out to work, how were we going to eat?” Taylor scorned.  
“If you weren’t in the picture they would have,” Zac insisted, “same goes for Ike, I’m not just mad at you.”  
Taylor looked back toward the rooms, checking that he hadn’t been followed out.  
“You don’t think our sudden disappearance would have made them look into who Natalie was? Or Kate? Or Nicole for that matter?” he pointed out, “this was all going to come to a head sooner or later. We couldn’t hide forever – we knew that.”  
“We could have tried harder. I feel like I gave up enough,” Zac was firm, “I’m not sure that you guys did.”  
Taylor rolled his eyes but was distracted before he could respond. One of the trainees had obviously heard them talking and come to see who was on the other side of the fence.  
“Hey,” he greeted, pulling a helmet from his head, “new people.”  
“Yeah. I’m Taylor, this is Zac,” he quickly introduced.  
“Darcy,” he gave a nod, “you interested in joining?”  
“I’m not sure we-“  
“Yes,” Taylor answered for them both, “we’ve got a lot of anger to vent.”  
“Anger isn’t always the best thing, you need to keep a level head,” Darcy mused, “but we should be able to help with that. Come on in.”  
He indicated for them to follow as he disappeared again.  
“This might not be a good idea yet,” Zac warned as he stood from his perch.  
“You’re the one that wanted to fight,” Taylor shrugged, “so let’s fight.”

Natalie had roused the kids to all get breakfast together, remembering that Taylor had left early and deciding to take the initiative while unsure when he would be back. Considering they didn’t see either he or Zac at all she took it as the right call.  
Leaving Ezra in charge of the group while Kate was busy with Lucille and Isaac was still sleeping, she eventually went looking. She heard them before she ever saw them, and became wary on whether it was a good time to intrude. She looked through the fence in the same place Zac had been spying earlier and winced when the first thing she saw was Zac doubling over after taking a hit to the gut. The man that had attacked him lay another hit on the back of his shoulder which sent him to the ground before Taylor intervened and dragged him back by the shirt. Natalie had to hold in an audible gasp when Taylor was pulled into a headlock from behind seconds before his head was covered with a hood.  
“One!” one of the men standing to the side announced, a rifle in his hands, “two! Three! Four!”  
Before she could comprehend anything Taylor had been shot in the chest.  
“Oh my God!” she quickly covered her mouth, her legs refusing to move as her eyes went to where Zac was getting back to his feet.  
“You’re dead,” the shooter was smug as Taylor fell back into a sit before removing the hood himself.  
He winced as he rubbed at his chest where a red spot was prominent.  
“Four seconds is the maximum you’ve got before they decide to shoot you outright.”  
A few of them looked toward the fence and it wasn’t until that moment that Natalie realized her husband was actually okay. She wasn’t sure what had happened but the second Taylor realized she were there he was back on his feet and heading over.  
“No wonder you guys train all day,” Zac was shaking his head, “this is hard.”  
“It’s life and death,” Darcy shrugged, “it was never meant to be easy.”  
“I don’t know if we’re cut out for this,” Zac was hesitant, “I mean I’ve gone shooting plenty of times before but honestly most of it was done on a console.”  
“That’s not a bad thing,” the shooter insisted, slinging the rifle over his shoulder, “a lot of us were gamers.”  
“Really?” Zac’s brow rose.  
“Half the people here were. We are the gamers good with guns and the butchers good with knives. People that never stood out before because all the ones who did are already dead.”  
“He’s not wrong,” Darcy agreed, “and it’s not like we can be picky about who we get help from. We need all we can get.”

“What was that?” Natalie demanded the moment her husband was within earshot.  
“Paint,” Taylor put two fingers to his chest to show her the red, “it was a paintball gun. I’m fine, it just hurts like hell.”  
“Why?” Natalie frowned, “why would they do that?”  
“Well it’s working,” he insisted, “I mean I’m gonna try everything to not let that happen again. Out there we aren’t going to have second chances.”  
“Out there?” Natalie felt the nerves run through her, “you’re going ‘out there’? To fight?”  
“Hiding was never really an option. We had our chance to do that,” Taylor tried to reason, “and we failed. Now we have to help these people get our country back.”  
“And what about us?” Natalie lowered her voice, “what about your kids? The ones you have left.”  
“I’m doing this for them!” Taylor was suddenly incredulous, “what, you can’t see that?”  
“Don’t raise your voice at me,” Natalie warned, well aware his adrenaline was pumping.  
He scowled in retort.  
“I know you want to do what’s right. You always have,” she insisted, her voice shaking a little, “but I’m asking you to think of us first, like you always have. You brought those kids into this world and they do not deserve to be abandoned.”  
“I’m not-!” Taylor cut himself off and put his hands in his hair, red paint and all.  
Natalie took the moment to catch her breath.  
“Everyone here has a family,” he insisted once he’d recovered, “but if we don’t fight, who will? We might as well hand ourselves back over because they’re going to get us eventually. You know what happens then.”  
“I know,” her voice broke, “but we can’t lose you again.”  
“And my life gets shorter the longer we do nothing,” Taylor scorned, turning to go back to his brother.  
Natalie covered her mouth with her hand as her eyes welled up, stepping aside so that none of the trainees would see her cry. She knew consciously that he’d been through a lot and he had every right to be angry, but this was exactly what she didn’t want the kids to have to deal with.  
She took a moment to calm herself down before going back to focus on them. They needed at least one of their parents with them.

It was nearing lunchtime when Taylor and Zac retired from the field to finally have something to eat. Taylor kept a cautious eye out for Natalie but she was nowhere to be seen on the way to the cafeteria. Noticing that Isaac wasn’t around either he sidled up to Zac as he was filling his plate.  
“I spoke to that Aaron guy about Nikki and the kids,” he kept his voice low just in case, “I think they’re going to try and bring them here.”  
“It would make sense. Why leave them out in the open?” Zac shrugged, moving away again.  
“I don’t know that they were particularly bothered until I mentioned they’d be on death row,” Taylor frowned.  
“You want a pat on the back?” Zac’s brow rose.  
“No,” he was taken aback, “I was just letting you know what’s going on. I haven’t said anything to Ike yet.”  
“You haven’t _found_ Ike yet.”  
“Right. Only I’m not so sure he wants to be found.”  
“Can you blame him?”  
“Of course not, but I want to know he’s okay,” Taylor followed Zac back to ‘their’ table.  
“This might be talking too soon,” Zac took a seat, “but you’re going to have to let us go eventually. I understood the whole control freak thing when we were hiding but we’ve got work to do now.”  
“Have you talked to Kate about this ‘work’?” Taylor began playing with his food.  
“Don’t change the subject.”  
“I mean I was fighting with Nat about it this morning,” Taylor ignored him, “so I figure Kate might have something to say about it too.”  
“We had a lot of time to talk while you were out and about doing who knows what,” Zac assured.  
“Working,” Taylor corrected with a scowl.  
“She knows, and she agrees. She actually wanted to fight too but someone’s got to be there for the kids.”  
“Nat doesn’t want to be left alone.”  
“Maybe she’s tired of being alone,” Zac shrugged, “you weren’t home much to begin with. Even before the Great Change.”  
Taylor rolled his eyes at that. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t wanted to be, but his work had always been important.  
“Maybe you should take a break and go back to training once you’ve actually talked to her,” Zac suggested before filling his mouth.  
Taylor was about to reply when he spotted Aaron’s lady friend from the night before heading toward them. He gave Zac a nod to indicate her presence.  
“Sorry I took a while to find you,” she looked worried, “I’ve got some bad news.”  
“What is it?” Taylor noticed she was focused on him rather than Zac.  
“Our Southern friends were maintaining contact with your friend, Rob,” she leant over the table so she could lower her voice.  
“Is he okay?” Taylor frowned.  
“No,” she was blunt, “he was staying in a town by the name of Chandler, somewhere off the turnpike between Tulsa and OKC. The town was raided last night.”  
“What do you mean ‘raided’?” Zac asked, “the whole town?!”  
“It’s not uncommon,” she eyed him, “they might have gotten a tip on underground activity, or they might have just wanted to make an example. Sometimes we never find out.”  
“What about Rob?” Taylor had already lost his appetite.  
“We haven’t heard from him since,” she explained, “and they’re not about to announce the identities of the bodies being trucked out of there. Considering he was given strict instruction to maintain contact on a daily basis we’re going to give it one more day and then call it a loss.”  
“Why would they raid Chandler?” Zac frowned, “what could they have wanted?”  
“How many dead?” Taylor dropped his fork.  
“Most of them,” she replied, “we won’t get a definitive number, we had no one stationed there and Rob was just passing through. Either they got word he was there or they just decided to have some fun.”  
Taylor felt sick to his stomach at the reminder of his McAlester tormentors laughing over him. They’d certainly enjoyed it. He could easily imagine them firing rounds with the same attitude.  
“Sorry,” she apologized again before leaving.  
“We’re looking more and more like the lucky ones,” Zac went back to eating.  
“Luck has nothing to do with it,” Taylor stared down at his plate, “they’re just going to keep killing us, town by town. It’s got to stop.”  
“No argument here.”  
Taylor eyed him before looking toward the door.  
“But we’ve got a few more people to convince,” he pulled a face.

Isaac was actively avoiding the bedrooms as he ambled down a gravel pathway beside one of the outer buildings. It was getting late. He debated getting something to eat, not having eaten all day, but he just wasn’t very hungry. He made it to the end of the building before pausing in his stride. He could hear something… odd.  
Moving closer to the sound to investigate he came across an oddly calming scene. Close to the center of the compound a group had formed around a bonfire where they were drinking, talking… and one of them was strumming an acoustic guitar. It took him a moment to recognize that it was the guitar he’d initially heard.  
He was spotted before he realized he was in the firelight and the young man shifted himself before inviting Isaac to sit beside him. He was hesitant, not having felt very welcome before now, but forced himself to resist the urge to become a total recluse and made his way in to sit beside him. He might be stuck with these people for a while, the least he could do was talk to them.  
“Hey Scott, you might have some competition,” someone hit the guitarist on the arm, causing him to look up and spot Isaac for the first time.  
“I don’t want to put anyone out,” Isaac insisted, hands raised slightly in assurance, “I’m just here to listen for a while.”  
“You’ll need to do more than just listen here,” the man beside him smirked, “you have to share too.”  
“Did I walk in on some kind of therapy circle?” Isaac began to look awkward.  
“We all know each other,” Scott corrected him, “we don’t know you. If any of us are going into the field with you we want to know that we can trust you.”  
“The field?”  
“Your brothers have been training all day,” Aaron’s voice came from the left of the fire, “where were you?”  
Isaac sighed, feeling very put on the spot. He was regretting coming into the circle already.  
“Around,” he shrugged, “getting my bearings.”  
“Avoiding your brothers?” the woman beside Scott mused.  
“Yeah. Sure,” Isaac relented, “but I’m sure they’re fine without me.”  
“Maybe they are,” Aaron agreed, “but maybe they aren’t. Who are you to decide that?”  
Isaac fought the urge to get up and leave. It had been a rough few days – months even – and he didn’t feel up to the ‘hard truth’ pep talk. But something told him to stay.  
“We were separated when the music laws came into effect at the start of the year, we decided it was too dangerous to work together anymore,” he leant forward a little, “so yeah, they’ve been fine without me for a while now.”  
“If you haven’t been with them, how do you know?” the woman was curious.  
“Because we’re not kids anymore,” Isaac was blunt, “we’ve been living very different lives for a very long time. There seems to be some kind of perception going on that we’re joined at the hip just because we work together, and it’s not like that at all.”  
“I can vouch for that.”  
Isaac jolted and turned to look behind him. Taylor was leaning against the fencepost with his arms folded. Even in the low light from the fire he looked tired.  
“Come and set us right,” Aaron indicated another space on the log.  
“You’re asking about us, but we don’t know anything about you either,” Isaac tried to turn the conversation, “we barely even know any names yet. How do we know we’re really safe here?”  
“We’re not safe anywhere,” Taylor scoffed as he walked into the circle, “but at least these guys have guns.”  
Isaac shot him a glare as he took a seat across from him.  
“He’s half right,” Aaron admitted, casting Taylor a glance, “we’re no safe house. There are a distinct lack of women and children here for a reason. But as we collect people we needed a sort of halfway house somewhere. A place to separate the men from the boys, so to speak.”  
“You want fighters,” Taylor understood, leaning forward onto his knees.  
“We want help,” Scott corrected him, “in whatever form it comes.”  
He strummed the guitar for a bit and both Hanson eyes went to the strings. Scott watched both reactions before having to stop with a smirk.  
“There are ways to help other than fighting,” Aaron agreed as Scott got to his feet, “I’m certainly not much of a fighter myself but I’m not too bad of a farmer around these parts.”  
Taylor looked up apprehensively as Scott stopped in front of him and held the guitar out to him.  
“Take it. You know you want to,” Scott gave him a wink.  
Taylor’s eyes went to Isaac, who was trying to look inconspicuous.  
“What, you need big brother’s permission?” Scott frowned.  
“No,” Taylor scorned, reaching up to take it.  
But as soon as Scott moved away, Taylor stood with it. He took the guitar over to Isaac.  
“I just know he needs it more,” he said, holding it out.  
Isaac wanted to snap something about pity but held his tongue instead. Taking the guitar, he gently set it on his knee before testing the tuning. With an awkward glance around a now quiet campfire he took seconds before launching into a song.  
Taylor recognized it right away and knelt to his side.

_”You belong among the wildflowers  
You belong in a boat out at sea  
Sail away, kill off the hours  
You belong somewhere you feel free…”_


	30. Chapter 30

Zac was just leaving the food hall alone after breakfast and heading for the training area when he saw something – or someone – that almost made him trip over his feet. Taking a moment to be sure he was seeing what he was seeing, he cleared his throat as he started walking faster.  
“Everett?!”  
The blond head whipped around and Everett’s face lit up.  
“Uncle Zac!” he exclaimed, racing for him.  
Zac caught him in his arms and spun him around.  
“It’s good to see you,” Zac gave him a squeeze before setting him down, “where’s your Mom?”  
“Over there,” Everett pointed behind them.  
Zac looked up to see a look of relief on Nikki’s face. She had hold of Odette’s hand and Monroe was already running in for his own hug. Seeing that she’d found a familiar face, the woman with them put a gentle hand on Nikki’s arm before walking away.  
“Your Dad doesn’t know you’re here,” Zac realized aloud as he hugged Monroe just as tight.  
“Where is he?” Everett asked right away, “is he with you?”  
“No,” Zac admitted, starting to walk over to Nikki with the boys following close, “but he’ll be around here somewhere.”  
“Where?”  
“Hey,” Zac ignored him, pulling his sister-in-law in for a hug.  
She looked like she hadn’t slept in days.  
“Are you guys okay?” was the first thing she asked.  
“We’re fine. Now,” Zac assured before pulling back, “Kate and the kids are in the food area just behind me if you need something to eat, but I can try and find Ike for you.”  
“Thank you,” her voice was quiet.  
“I’ll show you,” Zac offered, aware that she was tired.  
He led them back to the food hall, made quick eye contact with Kate, waited until Shepherd had aimed for his cousins and quickly turned on his heel to try and find his brother.

Unaware of the events of the night before, Zac found it odd when he came across both Isaac and Taylor chatting with a man he hadn’t yet met. Isaac saw him first and gave him a nod as he approached. Seeing it, Taylor broke the conversation to look over his shoulder.  
“Morning,” Zac greeted the stranger with a smile, “I need to steal Isaac for a second.”  
“Everything okay?” Taylor frowned as Isaac readily followed him.  
“Yeah. Sorry,” Zac apologized to their friend, “I’ll be right back.”  
“What is it?” Isaac asked once they were on their way, “sorry I haven’t been around, I just needed some time to clear my head. I’m getting better.”  
“You’ll be even better in five seconds,” Zac promised, “Nikki’s here.”  
Isaac stopped dead, staring at him.  
“Not a joke,” Zac promised right away, “she’s in the food hall with Kate. Come on.”  
“The kids?” Isaac got out without moving.  
“Them too.”  
Isaac took a deep breath, still not entirely trusting. He’d almost convinced himself that he wouldn’t see them again for years - if at all.   
It made the moment he spotted them all that much harder. He didn’t even hear the boys call out ‘Dad!’ before they ran into his arms. He fell to a knee and hugged both of them as tight as he could, his eyes welling up the moment he confirmed they were really there.  
Zac gave Kate and Nikki an awkward thumbs up before heading back outside to find Taylor again.

“Is he okay?” Taylor hadn’t moved, arms folded as he’d waited.  
“I think he will be,” Zac couldn’t help but smile a little, “I was worried but now that his kids are here I think he’ll be fine.”  
“Where’s Jess?” Taylor asked.  
“Who’s Jess?” the stranger with him looked between them.  
“Not here, as far as I know,” Zac shrugged.  
“Why not?” Taylor frowned, “why wouldn’t they come with?”  
“I don’t know, I didn’t stop to ask,” Zac scoffed, “they probably think they’re safer at home under the radar or something.”  
“Until someone figures out she’s a Hanson,” Taylor’s brow rose, “or that Joe’s one of the Wright Brothers.”  
“I think if they were going after the Wright Brothers they would have had trouble long before now,” Zac’s eyes narrowed, “I think _we_ would have had a lot more trouble before now.”  
“You know they were looking for us long before this,” Taylor scorned.  
“How did you guys last so long anyway?”  
“Sorry, but who are you?” Zac didn’t want to sound rude but he was talking like he knew them already.  
“This is Scott, we met last night,” Taylor quickly introduced, “Scott, our brother Zac. And we lasted because we’ve always gone by our middle names and the soldiers didn’t think to check those.”  
“Those two did anyway, I had to survive in Taylor’s basement,” Zac corrected for Scott’s benefit.  
“It’s left things a little tense between us,” Taylor mused.  
“Understandably,” Scott was looking between them.  
“One of those necessary evil things,” Zac shrugged in agreement.  
“If we can contact our sister I think we should move her here anyway,” Taylor went on.  
“Contacting her may not be the best idea if she’s trying to lay low,” Scott warned, “but theoretically we should be able to contact anyone anywhere at this point.”  
“Wait, anyone?” Zac perked up as Taylor shifted his weight.  
“What about someone in LA? Or Pittsburgh?” Taylor jumped on, “or overseas, like Europe?”  
“No guarantees but we could try,” Scott shrugged, “sure.”  
“We’ve got a brother and sister we haven’t been able to contact since communications went down,” Zac explained, “and our parents and youngest sister were on holiday in Europe when flights stopped. Last we heard they were trying to get a flight home and when the airlines stopped working they sought refuge in the US Embassy in Denmark.”  
“We could give you addresses for the other two but we won’t know if they’re still there,” Taylor added, “the last we heard from them they were both taking cover with friends and family.”  
“Anything you can give us would be greatly appreciated,” Zac assured.  
“I’ll see what I can do,” Scott nodded to himself.  
He paused a moment before awkwardly taking his leave, and Zac stepped aside to watch him go.  
“Do you think they’ll find them?” he didn’t seem sure.  
“If they’re alive,” Taylor shrugged, “sure.”  
“What happened last night?” Zac turned on him, “where did he even come from? Where did Ike come from for that matter?”  
“I found him in some kind of group session around the bonfire.”  
“Bonfire?”  
“You didn’t see it?” Taylor raised a brow.  
“Of course I didn’t see it, why else would I be asking?” Zac scorned.  
“They were sort of interrogating Isaac when I stumbled on them so I figured I’d step in and help out,” Taylor shrugged it off, “Scott had a guitar there so we had a bit of a singalong.”  
“And you didn’t think to come find me?” Zac’s brow rose.  
“You were training,” Taylor eyed him, “I wasn’t going to interrupt.”  
Zac just rolled his eyes and followed Scott away. Knowing that he was headed back toward the training center, Taylor sighed and followed.

Intending to just go back to the dirt area where they’d ‘trained’ the day before, they paused when they heard loud thuds and yelling coming from one of the tin sheds on their route.   
“Maybe they moved?” Zac suggested, eyeing the far doorway.  
“One way to find out,” Taylor indicated for him to lead.  
Zac paused, his gut suddenly telling him that it may not be the best idea. But at Taylor’s insistence he pulled himself together and went to the doorway.  
What he saw made him freeze on the spot.  
“Holy shit!” Taylor was soon over his shoulder and couldn’t hold back.  
“GET THEM OUT!” Darcy immediately yelled, Scott rushing back to the door.  
“Sorry I left it open!” he called behind him, giving Zac a shove which forced Taylor backward.  
He closed the door behind them.  
“What are you doing here? You gotta leave!”  
“This is the way to the field,” Zac pointed out once he’d gotten his voice back.  
“What the fuck are you guys doing?” Taylor was less subtle.  
“Please just go,” Scott’s brow furrowed, “you shouldn’t have seen this!”  
“Who is he?” Taylor pressed, “what are you doing to him?”  
“It’s a long story.”  
“We’ve got all day so start talking,” Zac insisted.  
Scott looked between them before checking over his shoulder to make sure they were alone.  
“You weren’t supposed to see this. Not yet,” his voice lowered.  
“Who’s deciding this?” Taylor scorned, “we’ve told you we’re _in_. What more do you want from us?”  
“It’s not up to me,” Scott shook his head.  
“Just give us the short version of who he is and what you’re doing,” Zac came in again, “and we’ll come back later.”  
Taylor shot him a glare, too worked up to contemplate walking away.  
Scott sighed as Zac stared him down expectantly.   
“We picked him up when we took down a Korean base set up in Fargo, North Dakota a couple weeks back,” Scott finally admitted, “we had more but he’s lasted the longest. He’s been a big help. We’ve located several outposts and the training we’re doing now is to focus on taking those down. The ultimate goal is to get that section of border between North Dakota and Montana opened up so the Canadian military can get in.”  
“The Canadians?” Zac’s brow rose.  
“You’re in contact with the Canadian military?” Taylor folded his arms as he shifted his weight.  
“And through them, the world,” Scott eyed him, “they’re all ready and willing to help we just have to get them inside where they can.”  
“So he’s collateral,” Zac nodded back toward the shed.  
“You’ve gotta break eggs to make an omelette.”  
“What are you doing to him?” Taylor frowned.  
“Well these guys aren’t deterred by the sight of blood so…” Scott shrugged, “we had to get creative. This one doesn’t like electricity so much so we hooked him up to the battery in one of the trucks.”  
Zac and Taylor shared an awkward glance, what they’d seen making sense now.  
“If you guys think you can handle this-“  
“We’ve seen worse,” Taylor assured, “and we’re well beyond doing what needs to be done. We’ve been living it all year.”  
Zac was nodding in agreement.  
“We’ve all done horrible things in the name of staying alive,” Taylor hugged himself awkwardly.   
“I can talk to Aaron and Darcy about you coming on board, but just don’t hold your breath.”  
Taylor rolled his eyes.  
“You’ve only been here a couple days,” Scott defended, “give it time. We’ve got plenty. The next op isn’t until the end of the week and we already have that one tied down and ready to go. You’ll catch the next train.”  
“We don’t want to rush into anything,” Zac assured, getting another look from his brother, “and put anyone in jeopardy, but I can speak for both of us in saying that we are desperate to help. We want to pull our weight.”  
“It’s appreciated, and it’s noticed,” Scott nodded, “but like I said, this takes time. Patience is key here.”  
“Are you guys training today or not?” Taylor asked.  
“This afternoon, sure. But you guys can practise as much as you want without us,” Scott offered.  
“Let’s do that,” Zac grabbed Taylor by the arm to pull him away.  
“Get back to us on that outside communication!” Taylor insisted as he was dragged off.  
“I promise,” Scott saluted him, waiting for them to leave before returning through the door.

The sight of Isaac smiling and laughing made the brothers pause as they entered the canteen much later in the day. Both of them were covered in dirt from training in a strong contrast to how clean everyone else looked. But this time there weren’t nearly as many stares.  
“Dad!” Shepherd drew attention to them before the kids started waving them over.  
The Hanson clan had certainly taken up a lot of room.  
After managing to find some free chairs both Taylor and Zac pulled up with their respective families. Isaac’s kids were quickly all over Taylor to say hello.  
“So what do you think about the possibility of your radio show causing this?” was the first thing Nikki asked him.  
“Wow. Straight in for the kill,” Taylor’s brow rose, pulling Odette from his lap and setting her free.  
“Considering our current circumstances, yes,” she was serious.  
Isaac took a drink to avoid engaging, but his eyes were on his brother.  
“It hasn’t been proven at all that that was the case,” Taylor defended, “we don’t know what blew our cover. We may never know.”  
“You have to admit that the probability is there,” Nikki pressed, “or name another more likely cause?”  
Both Natalie and Kate’s eyes were now also on Taylor.   
“Anything could have happened,” Taylor insisted, “we don’t know that the reward money wasn’t claimed. Anyone we know could have been desperate enough for that. Not to mention the amount of random people that might have just recognized us on the street one day and made a passing comment to a friend or neighbor about our names.”  
“Or they could have recognized your voice,” Nikki leant her chin on her hand.  
“What do you want me to say?” Taylor demanded, “where is this going? We can’t prove anything either way, so if you want to vilify me for something that _might_ have happened-“  
“You could apologize,” her brow rose.  
At the blank look he gave her Isaac had to scoff. Natalie subtly began to shoo the kids.  
“I think if the radio show was truly to blame, it only brought to a head the inevitable,” Isaac scratched his head awkwardly, “however if that is what got us caught, ironically not only was the radio our downfall – it was also our savior. We wouldn’t be here without it. We wouldn’t have sanctuary without it.”  
Taylor was staring him down, not expecting a defence to come from Isaac of all people.  
“So as much as it pained us to have to say goodbye to our lives, we really got a lot longer there than I ever thought we would. You know, this is our future, and we can’t really run from it.”  
A somber silence took over the table, broken only when Ezra came back to ask Natalie a question about their rooms. Taylor cleared his throat and was about to thank his brother when a newcomer caught his eye instead.  
“Excuse me, are you the Hansons?” the short man with scratched glasses nervously asked, the piece of paper he was holding quivering slightly.  
“We are,” Zac was looking him over as Isaac turned to look over his shoulder.  
“Hi I’m Terry. I work the radio here.”  
“Do you have some news for us?” Taylor prompted, glad for the change of subject.  
“I do. Um…” he looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, but the now three other people in the area were well distracted, “I managed to locate your parents through the Denmark embassy. They aren’t there but they’ve been staying nearby hoping to make contact.”  
“You haven’t talked to them directly?” Zac picked up on as the mood of the table immediately lightened.  
“No, but we can probably set something up. It’s about 4am over there right now but maybe tomorrow morning.”  
“That would be amazing,” Taylor insisted, “thank you.”  
“I never thought we’d see them again,” Isaac admitted, shaking his head.  
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We’ll start with ‘talking’ and work on ‘seeing’ later,” Zac mused.  
“You know what I meant.”  
“I also managed to directly contact a… Tyler Laughlin in PA. He’s a member of the resistance there.”  
“And Avery?” Zac jumped on.  
“Already in the resistance,” Isaac couldn’t help but smile at that.  
“The whole group is fine from what I hear,” Terry nodded.  
Taylor let go of the breath he’d been holding.  
“We actually have a few ops planned for out East so we might be catching up with them sooner rather than later.”  
“That would also be amazing,” Taylor leant forward.  
“The other news I have is not so great.”  
Isaac sat back in his chair while everyone waited in silence. Terry’s nerves spiked again as though he was scared of their reactions.  
“As we all know, LA was flattened by the bombs initially and the city never really recovered. It’s basically a dead zone,” he quickly glossed over, “anyone inside the city at the time we’re sure were killed and people on the outskirts mostly have radiation poisoning but we’ve talked to a few of them and a lot of people are still trying to locate survivors and make a record of who did and didn’t survive but then the Koreans haven’t made it easy because they’ve basically gone through the radiation zone and killed a bunch of survivors…”  
“Terry,” Taylor cut in, “just tell us. We’ll get to the details later.”  
Terry looked between them before heaving a sigh.  
“There’s been no word of a Joshua Mackenzie Hanson outside of the exclusion zone,” he admitted, “or any of the other names I was given to check alongside.”  
Isaac nodded to himself before hanging his head. Zac wiped his face, holding it together long enough to keep the conversation going. Their wives’ eyes darted between them though Natalie was constantly checking over her shoulder to make sure the kids were out of earshot.  
“Thank you,” Taylor was the first to speak.  
“And we haven’t heard anything else from Chandler so… we’re considering that town a loss,” Terry added, unsure of which of them he was supposed to be directing the information at.  
“Thanks,” Taylor felt a lump in his throat, “thanks for that. When can we talk to you about contacting our parents?”  
“Or Avery,” Zac added, keeping his eyes down now.  
“Come by in the morning, I sleep in the radio shed so you’re welcome anytime.”  
“Thank you,” Taylor forced a smile before Terry quickly took his leave.  
“Chandler?” Isaac gave Taylor a questioning look.  
“Rob,” he admitted softly, “Rob was there. I asked after him when we made it only to find out that he didn’t.”  
“Sorry to hear,” Nikki offered.  
“Thanks,” Taylor took a deep breath.  
The table fell silent again as they processed their latest loss. Natalie reached over to rub Taylor’s shoulder before the silence became too much for Zac and both he and Kate stood up to leave without a word.


	31. Epilogue: The Quiet War

“I don’t want you to go,” Natalie was looking Taylor in the eye as they lay together on the haggard mattress.  
The sun had been up for a long time but the team wasn’t leaving until sundown.  
“I know,” he admitted, “but I have to. They need the numbers.”  
“Can you at least find out a timeframe?” her brow furrowed, “will you make it back before we leave for the safe house?”  
“I hope so. I hope it’ll only take a few days,” he thought aloud, “it sounds simple enough, it just depends on nothing going wrong.”  
“Don’t remind me.”  
They both looked up as a shadow crossed the doorway. It was Zac, and he looked confused at finding them still in bed.  
“Just going to lay there all day?” he raised a brow, leaning into the doorframe.  
Natalie eyed the holster he was wearing.  
“Maybe,” Taylor smirked.  
“Where’s Kate?” Natalie’s eyes rose.  
“Getting food. Tay we have a practise run before we…”  
“Are they starting?” Taylor frowned.  
“Soon.”  
Natalie sighed and sat herself up, Taylor following her.  
“You don’t have to get up,” he assured her.  
“No if Kate’s up the kids probably are too. The ones that weren’t here anyway,” she grumbled as Zac disappeared, “and we should eat.”  
“I’ll find you after?” Taylor suggested.  
“Sure.”  
He watched her leave before looking to the window as her footsteps dissipated. He could hear the general bustling of the compound coming to life and oddly felt like he was going to miss it. They’d grown to feel safe here over the past few weeks and it felt silly to move the families anywhere, but they knew this was primarily a training area and it wasn’t really safe for the kids. If anything were to happen to the group this would be the first place the Korean army would attack.

“Aaron!”  
He looked over his shoulder to see Darcy jogging toward him.   
“I need to talk to you about the Hansons! It’s important.”  
“Please take these to the kitchen for me,” Aaron handed the radishes he’d been picking to the woman he’d been with, “I’ll join you for lunch soon.”  
She smiled and went on her way. Darcy waited until she was out of earshot.  
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to take Taylor on this mission,” he was blunt.  
“But you don’t feel the same about Zac?” Aaron guessed.  
“No. Zac’s fine. He actually seems better than fine,” Darcy showed his surprise, “he has a level head about the whole thing, and has done since the start. I mean they got issues between them but in the field he’s been trying and it shows.”  
“You don’t think he wants it too much?”  
“No more than the rest of us.”  
Aaron nodded to himself before looking across the vegetable patch thoughtfully.  
“And Taylor?”  
“He’s too angry,” Darcy shook his head, “I think he’ll put us in danger. His adrenaline’s always pumping and while we’ve all got a score to settle it feels like he’s making it a little too personal.”  
“You find him reckless,” Aaron surmised.  
“Exactly,” Darcy agreed, “a little too confident, and not the best at taking direction.”  
“There’ll be other missions, he can sit this one out,” Aaron assured, “are you fine for numbers?”  
“We were fine before the Hansons came along in the first place.”  
“Good.”  
“He might not be happy about it,” Darcy mused.  
“I’ll have a talk to Terry. We’ll find something else for him to do.”  
“Cool,” Darcy diverted his eyes, “then we leave at sundown.”  
“I’ll see you for dinner before then,” Aaron offered a smile.

“Glad I’m not going,” Isaac shook his head as he passed his wife Odette’s new lanyard, “there’s no way I’d be ready to do anything like that yet.”  
“It’s probably good that you’re not, considering you’ve done no training for it,” Nikki smirked to herself.  
“It’s just not my thing.”  
“I never implied that it was.”  
“Do you have all of them?” they both looked up as Natalie came to their table, “I feel like I’m missing one.”  
“All five,” Isaac held up the four he still had.  
“Who’s missing?” Nikki frowned.  
Natalie quickly went through the six in her hands, looking confused.  
“I don’t know,” she admitted, “I mean Taylor will need his for tonight but I have his and I still only have six.”  
“There’s no Viggo,” Isaac quickly caught on, standing from his seat.  
Natalie froze on the spot, taking a moment to comprehend her mistake.  
“I can’t believe I missed that,” she frowned, looking up at him.  
Before she could say anything else he pulled her into his arms. Nikki watched on worriedly as Natalie let him but didn’t actually respond.  
“It’ll take time,” he assured as he let go, keeping a hand on her shoulder, “we all understand.”  
Natalie’s frown deepened at that. He hadn’t lost a child, despite feeling like he might have lost three when they’d first come here, so she wasn’t sure that he _could_ understand.  
“We’re here for you,” he went on as if reading her mind, “we understand you need the time and we’ll support you all the way.”  
“Thanks,” her voice was quiet.  
She quickly went through the lanyards again.  
“They’re all here,” she sighed to herself, partly with relief.  
“Just like catching a flight and making sure we have all our tickets,” Isaac gave her a wink.  
She smirked and he went back to the table.  
“Does Kate have hers?” Nikki asked as he sat down.  
“I think they wanted to change Abe’s birth date because it was a little too close to the real thing so she has the rest,” Natalie was glad for a slight change of subject, “but we won’t need them for a few days so…”  
“Mr Hanson?” they heard a call from the door and looked up to find Terry there, “you guys have a message from the embassy again.”  
“That’ll be Mom and Dad,” Isaac stood again a moment after he’d sat down, “be right back.”  
“Sure,” Nikki agreed, watching them leave.  
She saw Aaron quickly walking past the doorway after them.  
“Are you ready to leave this place?” Natalie pulled her attention back.  
“I’m just hoping we’re headed somewhere better and not worse,” Nikki leant over the table and folded her arms, “I don’t know that I could go back to living the way we were before this.”  
“Me neither,” Natalie agreed.

Sundown came fast for everybody. Both Zac and Taylor had spent as much time with their kids as possible, unsure if the tour would return before their families had to leave the compound in the next few days. Not many of them were able to eat beforehand because of the suspense and general tension the camp had taken on. The Hansons were unaware that it was standard before every mission.  
Darcy called the troop together for a last briefing as the trucks were readied to take them out. Zac kept his goodbyes brief, basically pretending it was just another concert tour. Taylor – unaware of the exchange earlier – spent the time reassuring Natalie that he would be back. The families remained in the common area as the brothers collected their gear and headed for the trucks, already able to hear Darcy talking and knowing they were late.  
But as they passed the sheds Aaron appeared out of the shadows.  
“Taylor, a word?”  
“We’re already late,” both of them stopped in their tracks, worry showing on their faces.  
Aaron eyed Zac, and Zac could feel the hint that he should keep moving. But he didn’t want to leave Taylor behind.  
“Is something wrong?” he asked instead.  
“I have a little job for your brother,” Aaron’s eyes went back to Taylor, “a very important one.”  
“I’ll see you at the truck?” Taylor looked to Zac.  
“You won’t,” Aaron assured.  
“You want him to stay?” Zac was confused.  
“Like I said, it’s an important job,” Aaron’s expression remained warm, “the mission needs you, Zac. But Taylor is needed here for now.”  
Taylor took a moment to change his mindset before turning to give Zac a hug.  
“Be careful out there,” he said into his ear.  
“Always. Be careful here,” Zac returned.  
As soon as they let go Zac headed for the truck. Taylor watched him go, itching to follow.  
Aaron’s hand appeared on his shoulder.  
“Follow me.”

“What’s going on?” Taylor frowned as Aaron led him into the radio shed.  
Terry had been sitting at the transistor, waiting for them. He jumped to his feet.  
“We haven’t really spoken about the impact you and your brothers have had on this place yet,” Aaron stepped aside rather placidly, “and I’m not talking about your direct contributions, though they are greatly appreciated by all. I’m talking about before you ever came here.”  
“The radio?” Taylor caught on.  
“The radio,” Aaron confirmed, “before this place ever came to be, many of our people were listening to you and your friend through the radio. This wasn’t just a pastime, as I’m sure you initially intended it to be. This became a subconscious call to action, inspiring a need within many of our people to take matters into our own hands and rise up to defend our home lands and our country. It was a reminder to people that they were not alone – that they were not the only ones angry about this world – and that they would not be alone if they chose to stand up and fight.”  
“I wanted to inspire people,” Taylor admitted, looking between them, “but we were never even sure that people were hearing us. We thought only people we knew would even know to turn their radios on.”  
“In most cases you were found by accident,” Aaron admitted, “we use the same radio system to transmit our own messages to the other camps, and your frequency was of course one that we could not use.”  
“The Koreans knew about it,” Taylor warned, “they listened to us too. They could be listening for your transmissions as well.”  
“We’re aware. That’s why basic coding was implemented initially and when that began to fail we looked to more sophistication in that area.”  
“Wait, fail?” Taylor frowned, “how did it fail?”  
“It doesn’t matter,” Aaron offered a smile, “we learn from our mistakes, we grieve and we move on. We have work to do.”  
Taylor looked over to where Terry was now standing by a set of metal lockers that looked like they’d been scavenged from a high school.  
“Do you know what happened back there?” his eyes narrowed a little, unsure if he should be asking, “do you know how they found us?”  
“We’ve recently found out, yes. We weren’t sure that you needed to know,” Aaron admitted.  
“Why wouldn’t we?” Taylor frowned.  
“You and your brothers seem to be doing well,” Aaron shrugged, “why throw something unnecessary into the mix? The last thing we need is for two of you turning on the other, at the least placing blame.”  
“Just tell me if it was me,” Taylor felt a lump in his throat, “did I do this to us? Was it because of the radio?”  
“No, it wasn’t,” Aaron looked confused as to why he’d ask.  
Taylor breathed a sigh of relief, before his mind started going haywire with other possibilities.  
“The reward on your names was collected by a man named Clive Waterford,” Aaron went on before he could ask, “Isaac’s name was handed over first, and using his name they were able to find yours.”  
“Clive,” Taylor frowned, the name sounding familiar.  
“He worked with your brother,” Terry jumped in awkwardly, “we found records of a few different jobs they worked together.”  
“So it was Isaac,” Taylor winced, not knowing how that would go down with the rest of the family.  
“I’m happy to keep the secret if you are,” Aaron assured.  
“Me too,” Terry promised.  
Taylor paused for thought, knowing they would continue to blame him otherwise. But he eventually nodded.  
“It would be for the best,” he decided, “for them to keep thinking it was because of the show. But I doubt this is why you brought me to this shed. So what do you want?”  
“We want you to start again, here,” Aaron indicted the radio.  
“You want me to transmit a radio show from here? Won’t you need the radio for communications?” he was confused.  
“We have more than one,” Aaron assured, moving toward Terry, “we’re perfectly capable of setting you up here while maintaining contact with the outside world, so to speak.”  
Both he and Terry began to open the locker doors.  
“And that’s not the only way we were prepared.”  
Taylor dropped his backpack and followed them over. The lockers were stacked floor to ceiling with CDs and cassettes. The variety he initially spotted included the likes of BB King, Good Charlotte, Michael Jackson, Keith Urban, The Beatles and even some Dolly Parton. His eyes almost immediately went to a Matchbox Twenty album.  
“Our rescue of the Hanson brothers is going to be one of the greater success stories that will be written about in future history books, I’m sure of it,” Aaron leant against one of the doors, “and this will be the reason. You helped to spur on the Kansas Resistance movement – and others – without ever trying. Imagine what you could inspire if you knew they were listening?”

*

Taylor cleared his throat as he adjusted the microphone, hoping this would work on the first try and he wouldn’t have to re-record like he’d had to so many times with Rob.  
“Hello,” he leant forward into it, “this is Taylor Hanson, and you’re listening to Radio One back on the air.”  
He paused, suddenly aware that not having a co-anchor was going to be harder than anticipated. He wondered if he could find someone in the camp to help him next time.  
“Many of you will be wondering what’s going on here at Radio One, and many of you will already know exactly what’s going on. Well essentially… we’ve lost many people over the past few weeks, but somehow I’m still here holding on, and ah… I’m going to stay here as long as I can, and I’m going to remain your voice for as long as I can. I have many more people behind me now than I ever had before and I think we can do this. I really do. I feel like America is within our grasp again and all we have to do is find the courage to reach out and take control and take it back. Of course it’s not that easy but… you see where I’m going, right?”  
“I need to take a moment before we get started to talk about my co-anchor. For those who didn’t know, his name was Rob Thomas and for most of his life he fronted a band called Matchbox Twenty. I will definitely play some of their music for you later in the show. I’ve recently had word that he may have perished in a town not too far from where I used to live. While we were never great friends outside of this project of ours I’ve always had a tremendous amount of respect for he and his, and I pray that I’m wrong in saying that he is gone, but if he’s out there still listening I hope Rob that you are safe and you’ve taken cover somewhere and that someday we will see each other again. I hope.”  
“I hope the same for many others, despite being told in no uncertain terms otherwise. I know I’ve lost a brother. I know I’ve lost a son. But we’ve all lost somebody, right? There’s no one out there without loss right now. These are hard times, and the hardest of times for our generations. That doesn’t mean we give in. It doesn’t mean we roll over and die. It just means in order to get through this, we need to step up further. We need to pull our neighbors along with us and we need to inspire and ignite the flame within others to join the cause.”  
He paused to sigh to himself.  
“Obviously I have a lot to say on the subject, and I have no idea how long I’ll be here, but I hope there’s still people out there listening. I hope people haven’t given up. I hope people haven’t gotten sick of the same thirty songs that Rob left playing over and over after I was taken away. Please don’t – please don’t give up on me, on anyone here, on anyone still left standing. I will make it up to you somehow. I’m going to plant my ass on this seat as long as I am able and I’m going to try and talk you through it. But that’s not all that I’m here for. I’m still here to give you an escape, and I still believe in the power of music as both a pacifier and as a motivator. So hopefully you’ll be glad to hear that I now have access to a lot more of it, and I’m going to start off with a very recent and very obvious song.”  
“Stay safe out there. Here’s _The Quiet War_.”

“ _Selfish repulsive uniform, I march in line to the drums of the corps  
Regurgitated, disgusted, am I just a brick in the wall?  
With courage naked to the veil, the flood that carved the canyon walls  
The mountain never holds her breath, we need a different kind of war_

_Was two in 1984  
Big brother the actor you voted for  
Democracy’s slogan  
Protecting the walls of the capitalists_

_With courage naked to the veil, the flood that carved the canyon walls  
The mountain never holds her breath, we need a different kind of war_

_Let’s use love like a knife try to cut through the surface  
Love can break through the ice when you’re fighting a different kind of war_

_Let’s use love like a knife try to cut through the surface  
Love can break through the ice when we’re fighting a different war_

_A war of understanding…_ ”


End file.
